Ash, May and the Legend of Hoenn
by Raptor Rex 117
Summary: A new organisation has risen in Hoenn, one that seeks to use the power of the legendary Groudon and May is a part of it. Believing what she does is right May sets off to eliminate any threat, but how will Ash's sudden appearance on the scene affect her mission and her life. Will Ash see May for what she has become, and what destruction awaits if a legend is awoken. Now M for Lemon.
1. Initiation

Chapter 1: Initiation

May stood silently in line in the dark room full of her fellow agents ready to hear the announcement that all of them had been called to, she had a feeling that this is what she had been trained for.

"Attention honorary members and special agents." A man at on the stage spoke who May recognised as the organisation's leader 'Fane'.

"You have all proven your self's great assets to our team. With your help our final goal is within sight." The Fane continued.

May allowed herself to smile slightly, she could finally give back to her home region of Hoenn and stop the advance of the greed filled minds that threatened it.

"By using the power of the ancient Pokémon Groudon we can raise new areas of land and cultivate said land creating an untouched ecosystem for the threatened Pokémon of Hoenn. Together we will spawn a new age of balance and peace that all other regions will look up too." Fane spoke proudly.

May stared up at the stage, the last few months see had trained hard in order to assist Fane and everyone else around her, now she was ready to put her skills to the test.

"No longer will we stand by and watch as corrupt people take what they want from Pokémon and give nothing back, no longer will we see entire wild regions wiped off the map, no longer will we see hundreds of misplaced Pokémon who have nowhere to go. As of now we stand and fight for those who can't fight back, we stand to clear the wrong doings of humanity and deliver those who oppose us to justice." Fane declared.

"As of now, New Magma, shall rise from the depths."

Everyone in the room could feel the power in his words and all knew the importance of the role they had.

"Your orders will be given to you through the admins directed by Captain Gregson." Fane motioned to the large man on his right.

"Perform your tasks to the letter and above all, keep this organisation secret." Fane finished and then walked off stage.

The admins started talking amongst the agents giving them details on the various missions, May waited patiently to be assigned but to her surprise Captain Gregson himself walked up to her holding a mission brief.

"Agent May Maple." The Captain spoke with a stern voice.

"As you were the top of your class you will be assigned an important mission, you will also be working solo." Gregson told May as he passed her the envelope and data chip.

May scanned the paper quickly noting she would be targeting a number of police stations as well as other buildings.

"I'll be honest with you Maple." Gregson voice snapping May back to the conversation.

"I wouldn't of handed an eighteen year old girl like yourself such an important mission, but since we had so few members ready to go into the field and I can no longer serve like I did in the military we don't have much choice." The Captain stared down at her.

"Sir, I will not fail you or bring disgrace to the name of New Magma." May spoke firmly.

"Pfft we'll see." Gregson hissed as he walked away from her.

May never liked Gregson he was brutal in training but May handled that easily. It was his behaviour towards women that she disliked and she knew he didn't like the idea of her being top of the class. May pushed this aside and concentrated on her mission, each target went from town to town which would make it easier for her to move around without anyone getting suspicious. As May was still a top coordinator only now she used that title as a cover to disguise her true motives.

May knew the end result of the plan was to control Groudon so they could raise more land for the Pokémon in Hoenn. Though she knew Groudon would not do so willingly she was smart enough to realise New Magma would most likely be controlling Groudon by force. May had weighed up these odds and knew deep down any suffering Groudon went through would be worth it for the rest of the Pokémon.

"Sometimes a few have to suffer for the betterment of the many." May told herself for a hundredth time.

She believed in what she had to do, she believed in the organisation and with all the wheels in place she believed that nothing could stop her.

Meanwhile arriving at a dock in Litteroot town a Pokémon trainer stepped off the boat and looked over a familiar region. As Pikachu jumped on his back Ash Ketchum happily scanned the dock remembering the last time he came to Hoenn.

"I don't suppose you remember last time we were hear do you pal?" Ash addressed Pikachu.

"You were in a bad way with all that electricity in your system, good thing nothing that bad happened this time around." Ash got a nod from Pikachu.

With that the two partners made their way to the nearest phone wanting to catch up with some old friends. Ash dialled the number for the Petalburg city gym hoping May or Max would be home.

"Petalburg city gym how may I help you." Answered May and Max's mother Caroline.

"Hi Caroline it's me Ash you remember?" Ash asked cheerfully.

"Oh Ash of course I remember though I almost didn't recognise you now that your all grown up." Ash smiled at Caroline's comment noticing Norman walking in.

"Good morning Ash and congratulations on getting your position in the Elite 4." Norman spoke proudly.

"Well I'm only a stand-in in case one of them can't battle but thanks." Ash replied happily.

"Sorry I didn't congratulate you sooner I know it's been over a year, but anyway what can I do for you?" Norman asked.

"I just arrived back in Hoenn and I was wondering if May or Max were around?" Ash responded.

"Well Max is currently in Sinnoh training for the league over there." Caroline answered.

"To bad, what about May?" Ash asked.

"Well that's a good question." Norman answered frowning slightly making Ash give a puzzled look.

"You see Ash we've had little contact with May for a while now." Caroline began. "And whenever we do get through to her she doesn't talk very much at all."

"Needless to say we are a little worried about her." Norman added.

"I see why do you think that is." Ash inquired.

"No idea, she still travels around Hoenn but never seems to compete in any contests, it's all very strange and out of character." Caroline looked away.

"What can I do to help?" Ash asked suddenly.

Norman and Caroline looked up at Ash, seeing the serious look on his face. "Well last we heard she was heading to Rustboro city, but we don't know if she'll still be there." Norman answered.

"That's fine if she's there or not I'll find her and see what's happening with her." Ash responded.

Caroline was the first to reply. "Thank you Ash that really means a lot to us that you'd go out of your way like that."

"Its fine really May and all of you are friends and I want to help out in any way I can." Ash gave Caroline a smile.

"Thanks a million sport but one thing." Norman paused. "May might not be exactly as you remember her." The older man spoke firmly.

"Thanks for the heads up I'll get going right away." Ash nodded to the couple before hanging up the phone and began jogging up the path.

"Even if she has changed I'm sure May is still my friend. I just hope I can find her." Ash thought to himself as he and Pikachu headed towards Rustboro city.


	2. Mission and reunion

Chapter 2: Mission and reunion

May crawled and weaved through the ventilation system of the Devon Corp building, her slender body easily moving through the tight spaces. As her first mission May was determined not to fail especially since this one was arguably the most important. She had snuck into the building from the rear unnoticed and was tasked to navigate the ventilation system and plant a virus into the Devon Corps main frame that would block them from identifying any of the channels or frequencies that New Magma would be using so they could finally communicate across radio and satellite instead of tedious letters. She would repeat this with all the police stations in every town she was assigned to cross however Devon Corp had another important aspect to it.

The main computers held most of the limited data research teams collected after the original Team Magma and Team Aqua awoke Kyogre and Groudon and May's mission was to make sure no one used it against New Magma when Groudon was awakened again. In order to avoid suspicion May wouldn't simply destroy the data, she would place an undetectable sleeper virus in the computers documents and when the time was right activate it so no one would be able to access it at the time New Magma used the powerful legendary.

May remembered back when she herself was involved with the original Team Magma and Aqua. Ash, Max, Brock and herself were in the thick of it when the ancient Pokémon awakened and threatened the whole region. Even today May remembered the awe-inspiring power each one possessed, if let out of control either one of them could of destroyed an entire continent.

May banished the thought from her mind the original Team Magma acted out of selfish desires, New Magma was different, they planned to help others.

As May approached her objective she readied herself by going over the details in her head.

"Step 1: Take out the cameras. Step 2: Make sure no one sees you. Step 3: Upload the virus. Step 4: Get out. Simple."

May turned over on her back and placed a probe on the roof of the vent. Of all the cameras in the room only one would be able to see her enter from the vent all she had to do was hack the camera and get it to stop recording long enough for her to enter and upload the virus. She took hold of the controls and brought the small bug like drone to life.

Tiny little legs extruded from the drone and clamped onto the vent, like a miniature Caterpie it could hold onto any surface and as May watched her screen to get the drones perspective she raced it outside the vent and to the camera. With lightning fast movements the drone took no time to place itself onto the fixed camera and hack into it. Once in the small machine took a few seconds of footage the camera was taking then looped it so all the camera picked up was its own ten seconds of footage instead of the room in front of it.

"So far so good." May told herself using the drone once again to quickly scan the room making sure no one was present, nobody was.

May crawled further up and opened the vent looking around the room herself to make double sure, seeing only lines of computer systems May crawled out and crouched down to the nearest port. May was well trained in hacking and it didn't take her long to get past the surprisingly simple security measures and begin to upload the first virus. It was hot in the room with all the motors running and being in her skin tight tactical insertion suit didn't help but she ignored the slight discomfort. After a while of kneeling and watching the program do its work the first virus was uploaded now she had to go for the files. Fortunately the Devon Corp had all the information in one large file, she copied all the data and then placed the sleeper virus. While it uploaded she scanned the information hoping to find something that might help New Magma even though she knew the eggheads at HQ would go through it.

The data was less substantial then she thought, most of it was common knowledge and the parts that weren't they already knew anyway, there was nothing here that was of any use.

May huffed loudly, annoyed she had come so far for nothing though was thankful that the Devon Corp and least didn't have any useful information to begin with. As the virus finished uploading May packed up her kit and climbed back into the ventilation system, she called back the small droid that upon unlatching itself returned the camera back to its normal state. May crawled her way back along the path she came. First mission was complete, at the rate she was going she could easily finish every one of them and have plenty of time before the final plan was initiated. She had gone over everything time and time again and could see nothing slowing her down.

"Pikachu we can't slow down now we're almost there." Ash shouted over his shoulder at the electric type who was struggling to keep up.

Ash had walked most of the previous day and only rested briefly during the night and was now running to get to the city quicker despite Pikachu's objections.

"Pick up the pace buddy." Ash yelled.

"Pikachu!" The mouse yelled as he jumped forward and latched onto Ash's shoulder making the trainer topple briefly.

"Alright I'll do the running then." Ash grumbled as he finally entered the cities limits.

Ash continued to run along the streets not sure where he was going, more relying on his instincts then anything. Suddenly realising this tactic was getting him nowhere Ash grinded to a halt remembering one important fact.

"Pikachu, how are we meant to find May in this city?" Ash asked.

Pikachu stared at his trainer with a look of puzzlement, before slapping himself in the forehead.

"Damn it on the entire trip here I didn't even think about how I'm going to find May! Why do I keep doing this?" Ash shouted making multiple onlookers stare at him.

Pikachu's ears dropped in embarrassment, sometimes thinking things out wasn't Ash's strong suit.

"Alright Pikachu we've got to figure out how we're going to find May in this place." Ash spoke as he scratched his head.

Pikachu jumped to a bench and rather loudly voiced his anger of nearly being driven to exhaustion.

"Don't dwell on the past just help me figure out what we're going to do." Ash countered.

"Pikachu continued to complain, since the two had spent so long together Ash had little trouble understanding what Pikachu was on about.

"I don't know we just have to brain storm and look in the right places I guess." Ash responded getting annoyed which only made Pikachu more frustrated.

"If you've got a better idea please, I'll all ears." Ash threw his hands in the air.

"Pika, Pika Pika-chuu." Pikachu grunted.

"What the heck does that even mean?" Ash threw his head back in annoyance.

May slipped out of the vent and onto the small toilet block she used to change into her infiltration gear at the start of the mission. Getting back into the stall she undressed and got back into her normal clothes. She had started before the sun came up and by far the longest part of the mission was the climb up the ventilation system, now that it was mid-morning May was getting tired and decided to head back and make her report, this time over the phone.

May exited the bathroom and walked to the main street making sure no one saw her. She could hear a small argument on the street but didn't bother to look even as a young man shouted "Don't give me that attitude!" May ignored it, her mind still on the mission.

That was until she heard a loud blast of electricity followed by a pain induced cry that sounded eerily familiar. May turned around thinking she imagined it, after all what were the chances he would be here of all places after all this time.

There on the path in front of Devon corps main entrance lying on the ground as sparks fazed along his body lay the boy she met when she was ten and spawned a life changing friendship with, and just to confirm it was him was the same Pikachu standing on top of a bench staring angrily down at him.

"Ouch, now you see if you did that in our last battle you might not have come up short." Ash grinned making Pikachu get angry all over again.

"Ash is that you?" A familiar voice asked.

Ash and Pikachu both turned and to their amazement saw the very girl they were arguing about.

"May? I mean yes it's me!" Ash exclaimed as he got off the ground and dusted himself off.

May had mixed feelings about Ash being here. On one hand she was happy to see him, more than happy she was thrilled. One the other hand his presence could complicate her mission especially if he wanted to travel with her again, this she could not allow.

"Um Ash, what are you doing here?" May asked quietly.

"Well officially I'm on holiday so I decided to explore Hoenn again, but I was hoping to run into you." Ash explained.

"Oh well it was good to see you but I've got to get going, have a safe trip." May smiled and suddenly walked off.

"May wait." Ash called out a little shocked.

May halted in her tracks, she didn't want to leave him like this however she had to report in.

"I was hoping we could catch up, maybe grab a bite to eat?" Ash asked slowly as Pikachu stood at his side.

"Ash I want to but now isn't the best time you see-" May was interrupted by her phone going off.

May swiftly pulled out the phone and looked at the caller ID, no number or name came up which meant only one thing.

"Sorry Ash I've got to take this, just wait right there I'll be back." May then hurried back to the alleyway leaving a bewildered Ash speechless.

As soon as May was out of sight she answered the call knowing that Captain Gregson would be on the other end.

"This is May Maple specking." She spoke firmly.

"Excellent work Maple you got communications clear on this area." The Captain's deep voice came through the speakers. "Any issues to report?"

"No sir, no problems to report." May replied.

"Really, then who was that boy you were talking to just now?" Gregson asked sternly.

May froze and looked around wondering how he knew so quick, had he been monitoring her the entire time? May wearily responded "He's-just a friend."

"Give me a name Agent." Gregson spoke lowly.

"Ash Ketchum from Kanto." May answered a part of her wishing she hadn't.

"Standby agent." Gregson could be heard typing into his computer before grunting to himself.

"Is this the same Ash Ketchum that is a backup member for Kanto's Elite Four?" Gregson asked.

"Yes he is." May tried to remain calm.

"What is your relationship with this person Agent Maple?" Gregson asked slowly.

"He's just a friend I haven't had contact with him for over a year since he got his position as a backup." May told Gregson.

Gregson remained silent on the line making May nervous with every passing second till he suddenly spoke. "Agent I'm currently with Head of New Magma Master Fane, he is now aware of the situation."

May swallowed heavily knowing that her fate and possibly Ash's was now hanging in the balance.

"Miss Maple" Fane spoke. "I'm sure you realise the threat a member of the elite four represents to our plan should he get involved?"

"Yes sir" May replied.

"It is possible if you leave him he will leave Hoenn, however if he doesn't he will walk around unmonitored and unchallenged." Fane continued.

"Tell me Miss Maple, do you believe you would be able to subdue Mr Ketchum or defeat him in a Pokémon battle if necessary?"

May nearly froze at the question, Ash was obviously a strong trainer May herself was no push over but she hadn't considered it ever coming to that. It made sense though, if Ash saw a Pokémon in need he would help it no matter what. Right now she had to answer the question.

"Yes sir I'm confident I can beat him." May spoke as assertively as she could.

"Very well, you will have Ash Ketchum accompany you throughout the rest of your mission and if he intervenes you will restrain him, is that understood?" Fane asked.

"I-um sir, if Ash accompanies me he could seriously slow down my current mission." May responded before Gregson cut her off.

"Listen here agent, you have plenty of time to complete your assigned duties and if you cannot complete them then you will be replaced and your status as top agent will be taken is that understood?" Gregson spoke harshly.

"Yes sir" May gave in.

"Then get to work." Gregson hung up.

May put down her phone and cursed the fact Ash had to turn up now of all times and jeopardise her mission, she had no choice in the matter though and would have to make the most of it.

"Wonder what May is doing Pikachu." Ash asked while slumped in the chair.

Pikachu was about to respond when he saw the girl walking over to them with a slight smile on her face.

Ash got up mentally prepared if May pushed them away again.

"Ash would you like to come travelling with me?" May asked as soon as she walked up to him.

"Um well yes I would but didn't you just say we couldn't even grab a bite?" Ash asked slightly confused.

"Don't worry that phone call just cleared everything up, one thing though you have to keep up with the schedule I have planned ok?" May smiled

"I guess that would be alright." Ash scratched his head.

"Great I know a good café where we can catch up." May spoke cheerful.

Ash nodded at the prospect of food and followed behind May, happy that the odd turn of events had turned in his favour.


	3. Catching up

Chapter 3: Catching up

May quickly found a small café not far from the Devon Corp building, it wasn't large but it was out of the way so May and Ash would have less chance of being bothered.

As soon as they entered Ash immediately bought as much food as he could from the menu almost filling up the small table they had by the window, while May simply ordered a drink.

"So Ash how has it been working for the Elite Four?" May asked

"Oh it's great, I haven't faced that many challengers but the support I get just for being a recognised member gives me plenty of time to train along with other things, I feel I'll soon be able to challenge the Champion in no time." Ash said before gulping down more food.

"Still following the dream I see." May smiled at him.

"Sure am, so what about you? Are you still performing in contests?" Ash asked.

"Well not as much, after I won the Grand Festival two years ago I slowed down a bit and look into other fields of work." May replied.

"Yeah that's right, I just remembered you got into modelling a while ago." Ash spoke with his mouth half full.

"Well not full time but yeah I do go to the occasional photo shot now and again." May looked down a little embarrassed.

"Yeah I saw you in a magazine a while ago, I didn't believe it was you till I saw your name on the page." Ash smiled.

"You didn't see any of my um, more exposing pictures did you?" May asked nervously.

"You mean the ones were you're in your underwear?" Ash responded a little embarrassed himself.

"Oh no you did see them didn't you?" May placed one hand across her face.

"It's alright May I've seen you in bikinis and stuff before, remember when we used to travel together." Ash tried to lessen the awkwardness.

"I know but it's a bit different since were grown up now." May giggled slightly. "Please tell me you didn't see me doing those weird poses."

"I didn't look too far into it." Ash told a portion of the truth.

Ash had originally discovered May's modelling by mistake when he saw her picture in a magazine, that magazine also happened to have the pictures May was embarrassed about. Ash knew that all those sorts of photos were edited for effect but to Ash May looked better just as she was and as he had grown noticed May was a very attractive young women, however a part of her would always be the girl he travelled with all those years ago.

"Do you ever get any people coming up to you asking for autographs and stuff? Ash asked.

"Occasionally, most of them are young coordinators who recognise me from when I compete so that part is usually alright, what about you?" May replied.

"Yeah usually out of the blue I'll have trainers come up to challenge me, but so far none of them have won. However since I'm not the actual face of the Elite Four I can usually go about my day fairly easily." Ash eased back into his chair.

"I'm sure when you become the champion everyone will know you then." May laughed to herself.

Ash thought back to what Norman said about May being different, as far as he could tell she still seemed to be the same friendly, outgoing girl she was before. They had little contact over the years but looking back he couldn't notice any change in her at those times either. He knew he came here on Norman and Caroline's behalf and had to bring it up with May at some point but was cautious in case May reacted against him.

"So how is Max going?" Ash got the ball rolling.

"Well I guess." May answered "I believe he'll be competing in the Sinnoh league soon."

"And what about your parents, how are they going?" Ash asked.

"Good, yeah their good." May sipped her drink.

"You know they're a little worried about you." Ash spoke up.

"Hold on how do you know that?" May gave Ash a puzzled look.

Ash realised he dropped the ball a little early but trying to hide the truth from her probably wasn't the best plan to begin with.

"Sorry May I should of just told you." Ash confessed. "When I got here I rang your house to see where you were, after talking with your parents they seemed pretty worried about you so I offered to help them." Ash slumped.

"So are you really on holiday?" May asked more sternly.

"Yes I just thought it would be a good excuse-I mean reason to come find you." Ash blurted out.

"How did you know I was here?" May narrowed her eyes.

"Your parents said you were in the city, and to be honest it was complete coincidence we ran into you." Ash slumped even lower into his seat.

May continued to stare Ash down, she could tell he wasn't lying but got a little cross at him none the less. She eventually just sighed lightly.

"My parents are always worried about me, ever since I did that underwear shoot they think I'm struggling with money or something, I don't know I just need my own space right now." May spoke without looking at Ash.

The raven haired trainer was relieved May wasn't hitting him at least, he had to remind himself that it wasn't Misty he was talking to. Her tone was slightly different, perhaps this was what Norman had been eluding to.

"That's understandable May but they are still your parents." Ash sat up.

"If I call them in the next town will you stop talking about them?" May asked rather annoyed.

"Sure I was just doing them a favour was all." Ash raised his hands defensively.

May sighed again before looking up at Ash. "I'm sorry you were just trying to help them out it's just, I've had a lot going on over the past few months." May drifted off.

"What sort of things?" Ash got curious.

"It's noting don't worry." May assured him as she looked down at Pikachu who had been seated on the third chair.

"Come here you." May smiled as she picked up the small electric type and hugged him making Pikachu coo lightly.

"Still as cute as ever." May then rubbed her nose on Pikachu's making him squirm happily.

May was suddenly reminded that there was a chance she would have to battle Ash and that meant battling Pikachu as well. She knew if she could get Ash's Poke balls off him then he couldn't fight but Pikachu never went in his Poke ball, how would she restrain him? Especially since she knew both of them would give their lives for each other. May didn't realise it but she had been staring, it wasn't until Pikachu waved his hand in front of May's face that she responded.

"Sorry Pikachu I was daydreaming there for a bit." May then placed Pikachu down again before turning back to Ash.

"So what Pokémon did you bring with you Ash?" May asked warmly.

"Well I brought Pikachu of course." Ash motioned towards his starter.

"I also brought Charizard, Sceptile, Gabite, Krookodile and Greninja." Ash picked up some more food.

"Some powerful Pokémon then." May nodded half thinking of how to beat each one.

"What about you, who's on your team?" Ash asked between gulping down his food.

"On me right now I've got Blaziken, Glaceon, Beautifly, Delcatty and my new Mismagius." May answered.

"A Mismagius? Doesn't sound like a Pokémon you'd usually catch, hold on what about your sixth Pokémon?" Ash questioned.

"I keep only five on me so if I catch one I can get to know them straight away." May lied. She did have a sixth Pokémon on her but she didn't reveal it so she had a secret weapon in case she did have to fight Ash.

"Well I guess that makes sense." Ash finally finished his large order.

"You sure you don't want anything May?" Ash asked having been the only one apart from Pikachu to eat.

"I'm fine Ash remember I'm a model so I've got to keep in shape." May flicked her hair back.

"Well that's certainly a change from when you couldn't eat enough of those noodles back in the day." Ash crossed his arms.

"Well my metabolism isn't what it used to be." May shrugged. "Come on we've got to get going to the next stop.

Ash nodded and paid the bill, Pikachu jumped on his shoulders and the trio began walking out of the city heading for May's next destination.

They continued to catch up as they entered the woods, the last they met was one and a half years ago when Ash got his current position in the Elite Four which meant there was plenty to talk about. Neither noticed the other when they did it but both trainers kept noticing how each of them had grown in that time.

May knew Ash must have had to have had a growth spurt because she now only came up to about the bottom of his ears in height. He was also broader along the shoulders and though she couldn't tell for sure she guessed he was stronger than the last time she saw him. She could only really she the muscle development in his arms but she could see that wasn't all about him that had changed.

Despite having seen May in pictures with a lot less clothing Ash couldn't get over how well she looked. Her body overall seemed a lot more fit, like she had gone through a major training regime, remembering however that she was a model now Ash tried not to stare. She had an excellent figure, though he was only two years older than her Ash couldn't help but feel slightly sleazy when his mind kept going back to it. For multiple times along the trip Ash pushed those thoughts to the back of his head with much effort.

As the afternoon sun began to set they decided it would be best to camp since making it to the next town before nightfall was impossible with the limited amount of ground they covered.

Being experienced travellers both Ash and May set up their camp quickly and soon had their own meals ready. Ash was happy to see May eat a substantial amount this time and was keen to continue on with their conversations when May announced she was going to bed.

"It's still pretty early isn't it?" Ash asked.

"Yeah but I've got a sleeping schedule to keep to." May said with a yawn.

"I don't think I've had a schedule for sleeping since I was ten." Ash half laughed.

"Why does that not surprise me?" May tilted her head comically.

"I guess some things never change." Ash smiled.

"Yeah, yeah I suppose so." May drifted off. "Anyway good night."

"Night May" Ash replied as she crawled into her tent.

Ash wasn't sure what to do without May to talk to and not wanting to disturb her sleep Ash decided to get into his tent with Pikachu and despite his sleeplessness attempt to get some shut eye.

"Well apart from our little argument this morning everything worked out pretty well huh Pikachu?" Ash uttered as he got into his sleeping bag.

"I bet your happy to see May aren't you buddy?" Ash asked.

"Pika" Pikachu nodded.

"She seems to be doing well for herself, I guess Hoenn was the right choice for our holiday after all that training we did with the Elite Four and all." Ash positioned his pillow.

"I mean I knew being that high up in the Pokémon league meant I was an official keeper of the peace like the Pokémon Rangers but I didn't realise I'd have to do all that physical training and self-defence stuff." Ash remembered the schooling he went through with Lance.

"Pika-chu" The small mouse shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess it makes sense since I'm now in the public eye more but still if someone attacks me and beats me in a fist fight doesn't mean anything. They have to beat me in a Pokémon battle for it to count for anything." Ash spoke more to himself. "Still I guess it's better to know these things then not to know them.

Pikachu nodded as he curled up ready for sleep, unlike Ash he had no trouble dozing off whenever he felt like it.

"May's looking really good too." Ash said quietly.

"Pika?" Pikachu looked up suddenly.

"Healthy, I meant healthy." Ash responded to Pikachu's reaction.

Pikachu narrowed his eyes not quite sure he believed Ash but curled back up none the less. Ash stared up at the tent cover in silent contemplation. "I'll admit she's become quite attractive as well." Ash thought to himself trying to remember if she was always like that.

May herself was under her covers with a low level light reading her next mission details. Her target was the police station in the small town along the route her and Ash were on. She'd likely have to do it at night to avoid Ash's suspicions and her modelling career provided a reasonable cover. Ash was an unforeseen burden but she did enjoy his company and with all the time she had he wasn't slowing her down that much. She had been assigned to keep him out of the way and she had to deal with it, maybe by taking on this extra assignment New Magma would see how effective she could be in future operations. After she memorised the stations layout she lay down and while trying to sleep thought of the best ways to counter Ash's Pokémon. She didn't want to battle him but if he intervened she knew her goals came first.

**I'm hoping to release at least one chapter a week. I've kind of dug myself a hole as I'm also working on two other stories I've posted but I enjoy working on them all and I hope you all are enjoying my writing as well. Any reviews are welcome.**


	4. An Old Face

Chapter 4: An Old Face

Both Ash and May got up early for a quick breakfast before packing up and continuing to walk to their next destination.

"So May when did you catch that Mismagius of yours?" Ash asked.

"It would be a few months ago now, why do you ask?" May questioned.

"Just seems like an odd choice for you, I don't know it's just you seemed to mainly catch Pokémon that were generally considered cute." Ash shrugged.

"What I'm not allowed to change the types of Pokémon I like, or catch for that matter." May raised her voice.

"No I was just making a judgement based on your past catch's that's all." Ash recoiled.

"You know Ash you can't think everything will be the same as the time when we last travelled, people grow up you know." May said sounding irritated.

"I guess you're right." Ash spoke quietly noting how May seemed to react more aggressively now as well.

Ash noticed he was lagging behind May, so much so he couldn't even see her face he quickly jogged up to her to try and lighten the mood.

"I mean people change but I'm sure you haven't changed all that much." Ash began. "Look at me, I still have Pikachu with me, I'm still a Pokémon trainer and I still want to be the world's greatest Pokémon Master." Ash smiled.

"Well that's true for you Ash." May half smiled.

"It's also true for you." Ash placed his hand on May's shoulder. "You still compete in contests, you still love Pokémon of coarse otherwise you wouldn't be here with me and though you eat less I can tell you still love noodles." Ash smiled.

"How can you tell that?" May placed one hand on her hip.

"By the way you were staring at the boxed noodles in the shop yesterday." Ash smirked.

"Dammit you caught me." May humoured him making Ash chuckle to himself.

"And you're also still my friend." Ash smiled humbly.

May looked up at Ash surprised at the value he seemed to put behind his last sentence, looking into his eyes only reinforced his statement.

"That's really sweet Ash, you're still my friend as well." May smiled back.

Ash nodded and faced forward when he saw another trainer in the distance walking towards them on the path.

"Do you think that person will challenge you?" May asked.

"Not sure, if he knows I'm in the Kanto Elite Four he may think twice, depending how good he is." Ash weighed the possibility up in his head.

The individual drew closer and Ash started to make out his cloths and features, jeans, blue jacket and purple hair. As he walked closer Ash began to realise he had seen this person before after a while May noticed Ash's constant stare.

"What's the matter Ash?" May asked.

"I think, I think that's Paul." Ash squinted.

"Paul? Is he a trainer you know?" May looked forward.

"Yeah he was one of my rivals in Sinnoh, he was a really strong trainer who beat me a few times but in the Sinnoh League my team and I finally managed to defeat him." Ash stated proudly.

"Have you seen him since then?" May continued to probe.

"A few times but I haven't battled him since the League he always puts it off for some reason." Ash replied.

By now Ash and May had walked a lot closer and though Paul was looking through his PokeNav the entire time Ash could see it was definitely him. "Hey Paul!" Ash shouted out.

Paul's head lifted up at hearing his name, noticing two trainers approaching him almost instantly recognised Ash when he saw the raven haired trainer waving to him. He also noticed a girl beside Ash, however he didn't recognise her at all. Ash started jogging to Paul's position quickly followed by May.

"Morning Paul it's been a long time." Ash spoke when he reached him.

"Hello Ash, your right it has been a while." Paul spoke in his usual monotone voice.

May caught up and introduced herself. "Hi I'm May nice to meet you." May smiled.

"Hi I'm Paul." The purple haired trainer replied noting the good looking girl Ash was with.

"So Paul what brings you to Hoenn?" Ash asked.

"If you must know I'm looking for some new Pokémon that might be worth my time training." Paul replied sounding bored at the question.

'At least he didn't say it's 'none of my business' this time.' Ash thought to himself.

May already didn't feel a good vibe about Paul, he seemed very off putting towards Ash despite the fact that Ash was being so nice to him. She knew that her usual first impressions of people weren't always accurate so she saved her judgement, remembering her multiple mistakes with Harley.

"Well then since were both here why don't you and I finally have a battle." Ash clenched his fist excitedly.

"I don't have time to mess around with you Ash, in case you forgot I'm now head of the Battle Frontier in Sinnoh a low level trainer like you wouldn't be worth my time." Paul crossed his arms.

"Oh I remember." Ash grinned. "You don't know this because you never responded to my invite but I am now an official member of the Elite Four." Ash declared.

"You're a member of the Elite Four?" Paul sounded slightly surprised.

"That's right." Ash answered.

"Ash technically you're a backup member of the Elite Four." May corrected.

Ash slumped weakly at May's comment. "Dammit May do you have to spoil my fun." The raven haired trainer whimpered.

"Either way I'm far too busy to waste my time with you." Paul spoke as we walked past Ash.

"Hold on." May spoke up.

Paul stopped and turned around at hearing May's voice, now that she was closer he knew he'd seen her somewhere before.

"If what Ash has told me is true he's asked you plenty of times to battle and you've refused. He's a great battler and by the sounds of it so are you, as far as I'm concerned no self-respecting trainer blows off a challenge for no reason." May lectured Paul.

"Where have I seen you before?" Paul asked ignoring the girls rant.

May didn't know what to say, if see didn't know better she could have shown Paul was scanning her with his eyes. It was Ash that answered for her.

"May's a coordinator, she also won the Hoenn Grand Festival two years ago so that's probably where you know her from." Ash said proud of May's achievements.

"I doubt it, I don't follow Contests." Paul said bluntly.

"It doesn't matter about me what I'm trying to get through to you is that Ash has been very patient with you and it's only fair you should accept his challenge." May started to get irritated.

Paul rolled his eyes, in truth the fact that he couldn't recognise May was bugging him more than her speeches were. Plus there was the fact that Ash had somehow gotten together with her, Paul wasn't sure which one intrigued him more.

"Fine I'll have a quick three on three battle with you." Paul gave in thinking he'd at least have more time to remember who this brunette was.

"All right finally." Ash yelled happily. "May will you be the judge?"

"Sure I haven't had much experience but I know the basics." May stated as she moved to the side of the path.

Paul and Ash moved to their respective positions and both thought through their own strategies as they waited for May.

"This three of three battle between Ash of the Kanto Elite Four and Paul of the Sinnoh Battle Frontier will now begin, the battle will be over when all of one trainers Pokémon can no longer continue." May announced.

"Are both trainers ready?" May asked getting a nod from each. "Then begin!"

**Short chapter but the next one will have a full detailed battle. Not as long as the ones I do in 'Becoming a Pokemon Master' because that would be ridiculous. Hope everyone's enjoying the story so far, any comments are welcome cheers! **


	5. Rivals Forever

Chapter 5: Rival's Forever

"Torterra standby for battle." Paul threw his Pokeball which released the heavy weight grass and ground type.

"Krookodile I choose you!" Ash yelled throwing his own ball revealing the fearsome bipedal reptile.

"You have the honour Paul." Ash let his rival have the first move.

"Very well, Torterra use Leaf Storm." Paul commanded.

The tree on Torterra's back glowed and let forth a bright green twister of leafs towards Krookodile.

"Defend with Stone Edge." Ash reacted.

Krookodile became surrounded in white lights which formed into sharp rocks that were propelled towards the incoming Leaf Storm. As the rocks collided they detonated and blasted away the incoming attack stopping both moves cold.

"Don't let up use Frenzy plant." Paul yelled.

Torterra smashed his front legs into the ground making huge sharp vines rip out of the ground into the air which then descended towards Krookodile."

"Dodge all of them." Ash instructed.

Krookodile acknowledged with a nod watching each large vine descend towards him. With quick movements Krookodile moved forward as the first vines smashed into the ground. By moving forward Krookodile was using the vines that had already crashed as cover for the ones above him, and with each one that missed made it harder for him to be hit by the remaining vines. Torterra's attack ceased and the vines retracted into the ground, Ash knew he had an opening now after Frenzy Plant.

"Krookodile use Stone Edge again." Ash started his assault.

Krookodile summoned the rocks around him and launched them at the immobile Torterra. As the stones detonated along his body Torterra barely flinched showing his hardy defences.

"You'll need more than an ineffective attack such as that to break through Torterra." Paul mocked. "Frenzy Plant again." He shouted.

Ash watched Torterra rear up again and knew what Paul was trying to do. He was attempting to lead Krookodile into close range in order to deliver a critical hit, if Paul wanted to get in close Ash would do just that.

"Krookodile dodge backwards this time." Ash called out.

Krookodile back stepped in time for each one to miss harmlessly. Ash didn't want to risk doing the same move twice but there was more chance of getting hit this way a problem that presented itself when one vine rose a lot higher than the others.

"Heads up watch out for that last one." Ash yelled making Krookodile eye the fast approaching vine.

"Cut it with Dragon Claw." Ash reacted.

Krookodile's three fingers glowed and as the last vine raced towards him he jumped hand first bisecting the vine in half, as Krookodile went up and the vine raced down. With the attack now over the vine retracted and Krookadile remained in mid-air bearing over Torterra.

"Go in with Crunch." Ash thrust his arm down.

Krookodile narrowed his body and dived head first with jaws wide open while Torterra braced for impact. Krookodile collided hard on Torterra's neck driving the large Pokémon into the ground but Ash ordered Krookodile off quickly knowing what came next.

"Use Earthquake." Paul smirked as Torterra reared up again but this time on collision sent the entire ground shaking and soon started collapsing and breaking in Krookodile's direction.

Ash reacted quickly to the ground level threat "Run forward and use Aerial Ace!" Ash shouted over the shaking earth.

With that Krookodile charged forward building up energy in the face of the ground tearing itself apart in front of him. Before he was engulfed Krookodile leapt into the air arms outstretched propelled like a rocket just above the ground avoiding the sharp edged earth that had threatened him. Paul and Torterra both recoiled at seeing such a large creature glide through the air like a jet, too late to counter as Krookodile rammed into Torterra with such force it caused the incredibly heavy Pokémon to be launched backwards before crashing into a tree breaking it on impact. Torterra rose weakly to his feet more dazed then injured but Paul didn't care which it was.

"Torterra get up now!" Paul spoke angrily.

Ash huffed at Paul's reaction, he still pushed his Pokémon really hard no matter what their condition and he still didn't tolerate any weakness. Ash knew he shouldn't have been surprised but he had hoped Paul may have lightened up a little after so long.

May who was not accustom to Paul's way of training started to get worked up at how Paul treated his Torterra, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor Pokémon that pushed desperately through his pain for his trainer. Paul didn't see it that way and got annoyed at how long Torterra was taking to recover.

"Torterra return." Paul grunted. "Getting taken off guard by a mediocre attack like that is unacceptable." Paul muttered making both Ash and May more uneasy.

"Here's my next Pokémon, Magmortar stand by for battle." Paul yelled as he released the round fire type.

May was now beginning to regret starting this battle, if the way Paul treated his Torterra was anything to go on it was clear he didn't treat the rest of them very well, but she had to continue.

"Next round, continue." She declared.

"Rock Tomb now." Paul commanded.

Magmortar aimed both his cannon like arms into the air and fired a series of hot rocks that arched straight towards Krookodile's position.

"Cut those with Dragon Claw." Ash countered.

Using his strong claws Krookodile eyed each rock as they fell before preciously slicing each one into three even pieces before they could hit.

"Now use Lava Plume." Paul voiced.

Magmortar thrush one arm into the ground and fired burning flames into the ground. Krookodile felt the earth beneath him heat up as he looked down a sudden blast of heat erupted upwards surrounding his body in flame. When the fire finally stopped flooding up from below Krookodile had steam coming off of him, even as a ground type the flames from Magmortar were burning hot.

"Now Toxic." Paul uttered.

Using his other arm Magmortar fired a blob of purple ooze that made direct contact with Krookodile quickly spreading over is body badly poisoning him.

Ash knew Krookodile was in a lot more danger with that level of poison in his system and reluctantly recalled him.

"You were doing really well there Krookodile now take a rest." Ash smiled as he reached for his next Pokémon.

"This will do perfectly, Greninja I choose you!" Ash shouted releasing the swift and agile blue frog.

Greninja landed gracefully on his hind legs and stood arms folded in front of Magmortar quietly confident in his oncoming battle.

"Let's start this off with Water Shuriken." Ash began.

Greninja formed the razor sharp water projectiles in his hands and released a barrage of lightning fast attacks.

Paul responded "Use Rock Tomb faster this time."

Magmortar stood his ground and aimed his cannons directly at Greninja. Even as the sharp shurikens sunk into his body Magmortar launched a fast round of rocks that surrounded Greninja and lowered his overall speed.

Looking trapped Ash used the water Pokémon's most powerful move.

"Use Hydro Cannon!" Ash thrust his arm forward.

Greninja reeled his head back and pushed his feet against the rocks behind him to brace for the recoil. With all his strength Greninja let loose a torrent of high pressure water that broke some of the rocks that were in its path. Magmortar raised his arms in defence as the super effective attack pounded into him. The water that washed past the fire type cut clean through the trees behind him and forced Magmortar to slide back. As Greninja finished his attack he puffed heavily from the intense move, Magmortar who had steam rising off him lowered his arms staring down his opponent. But as tough as he was there was only so much Magmortar could take, dropping to one knee and groaning heavily.

"Return Magmortar." Paul recalled his Pokémon. "You did your job I guess." Paul muttered as he reached for his final Pokémon.

"Electivire stand by for battle." Paul yelled

The large yellow Pokémon raised his fists in the air and yelled his name in anticipation for battle.

"Greninja you stay in there ok." Ash spoke confidently.

Greninja nodded and having recovered his strength stared down his opponent.

Paul smirked at Ash's decision and didn't waste any time calling the first attack. "Thunder Punch"

His fists roaring with electricity Electivire charged Greninja's position. As he swung his fist Greninja casually lent to the side avoiding the attack. Electivire wasn't too happy with Greninja's laid back attitude when faced with a super effective attack and thrust his fist straight at the ninja Pokémon. Greninja back flipped into the tree branches above Electivire to avoid the attack, now he was in his element.

"Alright Greninja get going in those trees." Ash exclaimed.

Greninja started bounding from branch to branch in a seamless motion that made in almost look like he was moving over flat ground, running circles around Electivire.

"Thunder lets go." Paul ordered.

Electivire pointed one of his two tails at the trees and shot a large bolt of electricity but Greninja proved too fast and using the different levels of branches easily dodged the attack.

"Use all your power." Paul yelled.

This time Electivire charged his entire body with electricity as he threw his arms into the air the whole tree line got covered in waves of high voltage electricity. As the attack dyed down Greninja was nowhere to be seen. Paul scanned the branches looking for the water type when he saw its hind legs sticking out from behind a tree.

"Use thunder on that branch." Paul spoke.

Electivire turned and locked onto where Paul was indicating and fired another Thunder attack, this one met its mark. However the lightning attack went right through Greninja who then evaporated into thin air, Paul's mind instantly clicked when he realised.

"A Double Team attack, so that Greninja was only a decoy." Paul murmured to himself.

"Water Shuriken." Paul heard Ash call.

Suddenly multiple Greninja's appeared in the trees. It was clear now Greninja had been setting up these decoys when he was running around and since they all moved in time with one another showed it was a very well-practiced Double Team. All the Greninja copy's armed themselves with the sharp edged water attack and threw them simultaneously. Without a way to identify the really Greninja Electivire covered his face as most hit harmlessly while a few struck him in his uncovered areas.

"Now get moving and keep using Water Shuriken." Ash instructed.

All of the Greninja copies began running in a clock wise direction and continued to throw their individual stars. Electivire continued to block but neither he nor Pal was able to identify which were real or not and the majority of those that were real got through Electivire's defences.

"Use Protect." Paul said trying to bide more time.

With the green sphere around him Electivire was shielded from the incoming attack but still couldn't pin point the really Greninja.

"Alright then use Thunder on all the trees." Paul ordered.

"Take cover Greninja." Ash countered.

The Greninja Double teams hid behind their respective branches as Electivire released a barrage of Lightning that struck each tree around him breaking most of the weaker branches and took out half the copies but Greninja himself remained unharmed.

"Use Night Slash Greninja." Ash followed up.

As the remaining duplicates jumped to the ground each one's hand glowed with a dark energy taking the form of a small blade, they rushed Electivire from all angles. Paul saw one of the copies run past him but felt a breeze pass by him as it did, a Double Team copy wouldn't have had that effect he would have felt nothing.

"Behind you use Thunder Punch." Paul yelled at Electivire.

Without hesitation Electivire turned to his six o'clock and drove one fist forward at the incoming threat, at the same time the real Greninja struck his hand forward making Night Slash and Thunder Punch clash together. Both Pokémon proved just as strong and after sparks and dark energy were sent flying, Greninja leapt back shaking any excess electricity from his hand.

"Keep moving Greninja." Ash didn't let up.

Paul was amazed that even after getting hit by Rock Tomb Greninja was still so fast, he also noticed that the water from the constant use of Water Shuriken had left the ground covered along with the morning dew, he grinned at his new plan.

"Protect Electivire." Paul narrowed his focus.

Electivire prevented any more Shuriken's from hitting him and increasing the amount of water all around the field, when his Protect wore off Ash saw to end the fight.

"Now use Hydro Cannon." He yelled.

Greninja came out from behind a tree and using it for support unleashed the overwhelming water attack. Electivire blocked and though the move wasn't super effective it was still extremely powerful forcing the electric type to slide back on his heels and wait until Greninja finished. As he did Greninja ducked behind the tree to avoid any attack but Paul had planned for this.

"Use Thunder on the ground." Paul ordered.

Electivire placed his hands on the ground and released his electrical energy that with the help of the water on the ground darted across the field hitting everything that was wet including the tree Greninja was behind. Realising to late his cover was just as wet as the ground Greninja got blasted with high voltage lightning that coursed through his body. With a cry of pain Greninja fell to his knees as sparks scattered along his form.

"Greninja are you alright?" Ash exclaimed and though Greninja fought hard to stand back up Ash knew he needed a rest.

"Return Greninja, don't worry you did great." Ash spoke warmly as he returned the hard fighting ninja.

"You should have just come at me head on like you usually do, it would have turned out this way a lot quicker." Paul mocked him.

Ash knew Paul was trying to get to him but he also knew Greninja had performed well with such a large type disadvantage, but his next Pokémon would have no such issues.

"Gabite I choose you." As released his newly evolved Dragon type.

"I'll let you have the first move." Paul smirked.

"You'll regret that." Ash smiled right back. "Gabite use Sand Tomb."

Gabite kicked up sand with his two hands and blew the particles into a small tornado that surrounded Electivire and while battering him from all sides covered his feet restricting his movements. Paul had a plan for ground types with Electivire but even so not being able to recall Electivire with Sand Tomb in play limited his options.

"Thunder in the ground." Paul countered.

Ash had seen this move before, Electivire thrush his two tails into the ground and shot his Thunder in after sending chunks of earth straight into the sky before gravity took hold and sent them spiralling back down.

"Gabite use Dig to dodge." Ash yelled having the perfect way to avoid the rocks.

Gabite dove into the ground disappearing in a cloud of dust making the falling rocks hit the earth harmlessly, Gabite himself kept digging straight towards Electivire.

"Protect now." Paul yelled out just in time.

As Gabite broke through the ground beneath Electivire the electric type just managed to deflect the attack, but Ash had planned on just that. With Electivire's shield now gone and his movement limited he was wide open for Gabite's next attack.

"Draco Meteor." Ash shouted.

Gabite reared his head back building the orange energy in his throat before firing the projectile into the air. As it rose it burst into dozens of smaller arching projectiles going right at Electivire.

"Block those with Thunder Punch." Paul responded.

As meteors rained down around him Electivire managed to deflect the first two that came his way but was struck hard by the third, Ash didn't wait for the fire storm to end.

"Move in and use Rock Smash." Ash yelled.

Gabite got in close to Electivire and swung his claw into Electivire's gut causing the surprised Pokémon to be driven up into the air only to be met with three more meteors hitting him and driving him into the ground. As the dust cleared Electivire lifted his head weakly before succumbing to his injuries, flopping onto the ground.

"Electivire is unable to battle." Gabite wins.

"Yeah nice work Gabite." Ash congratulated Gabite happily.

Paul groaned as he recalled Electivire. "Can't believe that was all it toke." He grumbled. "Torterra stand by for battle."

Torterra appeared again looking as battle ready as ever. Gabite hit hard where it counted but Ash wondered how much more it would take to knock Torterra out.

"Use Earthquake." Paul instructed.

Torterra moved quicker than Ash thought and before he knew it Gabite was being battered by the breaking earth.

"Gabite hang in there." Ash directed.

Gabite withstood the attack but toke on some heavy damage in the process.

Paul didn't let up as he called his next move. "Frenzy Plant."

Torterra called up the spiky vines that threatened to squash Gabite. "Use dig." Ash responded.

Gabite burrowed into the ground before the attack hit and continued under the vines to his destination. Before Torterra could retrace his attack Gabite accelerated out from beneath him and struck across Torterra's face getting a prolonged groan from the grass type. With still enough time Ash ordered Gabite to use Draco Meteor. While in mid-air Gabite launched the powerful Dragon attack that rained down upon Torterra causing serious damage, as Gabite landed Ash realised they were to close.

"Use Crunch." Paul took his opportunity.

Torterra blasted forward out of his smoke screen and clamped his jaws down on Gabite's leg elating a cry of pain from the dragon.

"Get out of there with Rock Smash." Ash yelled.

Gabite used both his arms and pounded on Torterra's head repeatedly trying to get Torterra to loosen his grip but the Sinnoh starter held strong and didn't let go.

"Crunch again." Paul commanded.

Torterra flipped Gabite in his mouth and this time bit down on Gabite's middle, despite his hard skin Gabite still felt the power of Torterra's jaws.

"Keep using Rock Smash." Ash tried to figure a way to free Gabite.

Not ceasing in his attack Gabite continually smashed Torterra's mouth till eventually he found the weak point. His claw hit between the ear bone and the jaw bone causing Torterra to release his grip just long enough for Gabite to slip away.

"Good job now use Draco Meteor." Ash directed.

Gabite didn't bother to fire the attack high into the air this time he spat the technique directly over Torterra, since he had such a large body and with the resulting meteors so close Torterra was hit by every single blast. The overwhelming attack covered Torterra in smoke, when it cleared the grass type lay defeated.

"Torterra is unable to battle, Gabite wins." May announced.

"You're doing great Gabite." Ash cheered.

Paul got visibly angry as the recalled Torterra. "I'll deal with you later." He hissed.

May had made up her mind about Paul, she didn't like him at all, the way he treated his Pokémon appalled her. She watched as Torterra was returned to his Pokeball, there was a look of sheer disappointment in its features and Paul didn't even acknowledge it, she couldn't accept it.

"Magmortar stand by for battle." Paul shouted.

As Magmortar materialised Paul spoke coldly to it. "Don't disappoint me."

Ash tried to ignore Paul's attitude as he recalled Gabite, he knew he had the advantage but last time he was up three to one against Paul he very nearly lost so he was playing it safe.

"Greninja I choose you." Ash released the ninja Pokémon one last time.

"Magmortar use Toxic." Paul exclaimed.

"Use Hydro Cannon." Ash responded.

Greninja was hit directly with the Toxic attack but pushed through it and unloaded his Hydro Cannon attack so fast Magmortar had no time to move. As his body was engulfed by the oncoming flood Magmortar couldn't stand his ground and was sent hurdling into the trees cracking them on impact.

"Get up now!" Paul shouted at Magmortar, but that last attack was too much Magmortar, he collapsed on the ground knocked out cold.

"Greninja wins therefore the victory goes to Ash." May declared.

Grinding his teeth Paul recalled Magmortar as Ash did the same with Greninja thanking him as he did.

"That was a great battle Paul." Ash spoke happily.

"Whatever." Paul grunted before walking back down the path.

"Hold on a sec." May yelled out making Paul stop again.

"You're not even going to be a good sport about this, even after your Pokémon gave it their best shot." May scolded him.

"Please, that was hardly their best." Paul said as he turned to face her.

"How can you say that, they followed your every order you just can't admit that Ash is the better trainer then you." May yelled.

By now Ash had run up to where May was arguing with Paul and could tell she was getting royally fired up.

"May it's alright, please just calm down." Ash laid a hand on her shoulder.

"No it isn't!" May responded as she adjusted the back of her bandana.

Now with May's hand above her head suddenly kick started Paul's memory, he finally remembered where he had seen May before.

"Now I remember." Paul stated. "I saw your photo's in a magazine." Paul let a smile creep along his face.

May was all of a sudden caught off guard and the way Paul looked at her made her uneasy, in one sentence she had been forced onto the defensive.

"Oh yeah I forgot to mention May's a model now." Ash spoke not sensing May's unease.

"Well I'll give you that much Ash." Paul said with a smirk. "Nice work on bagging a model."

May was instantly fired up all over again. "What the hell does that mean? I'm not some collector's item you jerk!" May burst out.

Ash moved in front of her and held her in place. "May calm down he's just trying to psych you out." Ash tried to calm her down. In truth Ash didn't like the way Paul was talking to her any more than she did but he had to stop her from knocking Paul's lights out.

"You might want to think about getting a leash for her." Paul uttered "Because she's acting like a model bitch."

That was it for Ash, he turned around and threw his fist straight across Paul's cheek with a heavy hook sending him crashing into the ground. May who had wanted to do the exact same thing stared at Ash's action in shock, she had never seen him react so rashly let along punch a rival straight in the face.

"Now you listen here." Ash spoke in a voice that was part anger but all deadly serious.

"You can talk down on me all day long, heck you can continue treat your own Pokémon like dirt as you still seem to do. But don't you dare disrespect May or next time I won't hold back." Ash growled.

Paul wiped his mouth and slowly got up not looking Ash nor May in the eye. "I'm out of here." He spat as he threw his backpack over his shoulders and walked away now having lost even more of his pride.

May wanted to shout him down but remained silent, she didn't want Ash to start fighting because of her. Ash waited till Paul was a fair distance away before turning to face May who looked slightly dishevelled.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"I should be asking you that." May replied.

"I was talking about what he said, are you going to be ok." Ash asked softly.

"I'll be fine Ash, I've dealt with worse." May responded.

Pikachu appeared at Ash's feet sounding worried for his friend, Ash gave a small smile as he picked him up.

"It's alright buddy, it's all over now." Ash reassured him and then turned his attention to May.

"Come on let's keep going." He spoke calmly.

May nodded wanting to leave that particular incident behind them. The two picked up there bags and continued down the road.

**Hope you all enjoyed the battle. Was it what you expected? For those of you who are wondering yes there will be more battles in the story though they ****probably won't be as long as this one. See ya next weel**


	6. Different Meanings

Chapter 6: Different meanings

Ash and May had been walking silently for a long time, neither sure how to start a conversation after what had happened. They were both off put by what Paul had said and Ash's outburst, Ash had never purposely hit anyone in his life and regretted not being able to control himself. In the end he felt it was his obligation to speak up.

"You were right you know." Ash began, making May turn to face him. "Paul's Pokémon go through a lot for him and he doesn't seem to care about their condition on the battlefield. Heck he's always kept to himself at all times that's just who he is. I don't know I'm just trying to say, I'm sorry for a way I acted it won't happen again." Ash finished as he adjusted his hat.

May listened to everything Ash said, she didn't like Paul but she didn't agree with how Ash reacted on her behalf. She also knew if Ash didn't held her back she might have done the exact same.

"Thank you, for standing up for me I mean." May said quietly getting a quick look from Ash.

"Don't get me wrong I don't want you getting into fights because of me it's just, I don't think I've known anyone that would have done that for me." May looked up at Ash.

"Well it wasn't just for you, I had a lot of anger built up in me over the way he treats his Pokémon." Ash proclaimed. "And after what he said to you I guess it just boiled over, it's the way he puts them through so much grief and has none put on himself. If they're going through any form of suffering he should feel it along with them." Ash concluded.

The way Ash talked reminded May slightly of New Magma's leader, Fane. They both spoke with a passion in there voice that seemed to make her believe in what they were saying. Ash's point about sharing any pain with your fellow Pokémon peaked her interest.

"Ash when you say Paul should go through that sort of stuff with his Pokémon do you think that applies with everything?" May asked.

"I guess so." Ash was caught off guard. "I reckon when people or Pokémon are working together they should all bare the same amount depending on what they're doing of course." Ash summed up.

"What if one individual had to go through suffering so that it benefitted everyone else." May asked.

"Well, would they be doing it voluntarily?" Ash questioned.

"Let's say they weren't." May responded.

"No then, if a person's willing to force someone else to suffer for others then why aren't they themselves going through it." Ash spoke in a serious tone.

"People like Team Rocket put others including us through so much out of selfish desires. Because of them I don't ever ask someone to do anything that they wouldn't want to do or I wouldn't do myself, but hey people don't have to follow me by example it's just the way I am."

May hadn't heard Ash talk like this before and felt slightly overwhelmed by his selflessness. However the fact that he didn't think the same way she did also concerned her, she had to somehow make sure Ash wasn't anywhere near New Magma when they began their plan. She knew the general location of were the final operation was to be activated but not the exact site, she just hoped her and Ash were a fare distance away.

"Why do you ask May?" Ash enquired.

"No reason." May answered noticing they had arrived at the location they would be staying for the night.

"Here we are." May stated at the sight of the Pokémon Centre in the middle of the forest.

"Remember May you promised to call your parents." Ash reminded her.

"Yeah that's right, once we have our Pokémon checked I'll get right on it." May affirmed getting a nod from Ash.

As the two entered the remote centre that doubled as a small hotel Ash gave Pikachu and his five Pokeballs to Nurse Joy and May gave her five making sure to keep the sixth hidden.

Immediately after Ash walked May to the video phones were she called her parents at the gym.

"May, and Ash it's so good to see you." Caroline gasped when her daughter and Ash appeared on screen.

"I told you I'd find her." Ash smiled.

"Thanks so much Ash." Caroline said as Norman walked in to view.

"Hello you two, got to admit that was rather fast." Norman retorted.

"Hi dad." May gave a small smile.

Norman nodded and then turned to Ash. "I know this is a bit rude Ash but if it's all right do you mind if May, Caroline and I have a family discussion, alone." Norman asked the young man.

"That's fine, I'll go get my Pokémon and train for a while." Ash replied not wanting to intrude.

Norman and Carline thanked Ash who then left May to talk with them.

After waiting patiently for his Pokeballs to be returned to him Ash went to the battlefield outside noting that the discussion May was having didn't seem to get her angry, he barely heard her from across the room which put him at ease.

After his battle with Paul Ash trained with Charizard, Sceptile and Pikachu and before he knew it a few hours had passed. Ending his training session Ash wondered if May had booked in their rooms for tonight, he also wondered where she had gone. It didn't take long for him to find out as May had been watching him train for a while from the centre's balcony. The two friends smiled when they saw each other and Ash walked to her from the battlefield with Pikachu on his shoulder.

"I forgot to book us a room tonight." Ash began.

"That's fine I took care of it." May leant on the railing.

"Thanks for that, how did your talk with your folks go?" Ash enquired.

"Really well, you were right I got them all worried about me but I think they understand I need my space so we're all seeing eye to eye now." May explained.

"That's really good to hear." Ash felt delighted to help.

"Also I forgot to tell you that the reason we are staying here is because it's close to where I'm doing a photo shoot tonight." May gave Ash the details.

"Really, can I come along if that's not too weird?" Ash asked bashfully.

"Sorry Ash but they don't allow anyone not involved to come, sorry." May apologised.

"That's alright I guess." Ash sighed noticing the sun was now getting low. "You want to get something to eat?"

"I've got to go now Ash." May revealed.

"Ok well good luck then." Ash said wishing he knew about this earlier.

May waved to him and made her way to the front of the Pokémon centre and after checking no one could see her ran into the forest out of sight. After making double sure no one was around May released her team of Blaziken, Glaceon, Beautifly, Delcatty and Mismagius.

"Listen up as I'm sure your all aware Ash is travelling with us now and I've been tasked to watch over him in case he intervenes." May got a nod from all her Pokémon.

"However if he does get involved and I'm not able to restrain him I will require all of your help to subdue him, I want all of you to be ready for that." May spoke firmly.

All her Pokémon nodded, they were all fully aware of May's plan and involvement with New Magma and had gone through most of the training with her, May was glad they all knew the stacks. See returned all of them to their Pokeballs and they released her sixth alone as it didn't get along with the others, even May felt at odds sometimes being around it. The large Pokémon breathed deeply as she petted it neck.

"I don't need to tell you not to hold back do I." She whispered.

With a grunt of approval May hopped on its back and the two flew off to May's next mission, to walk would have taken a few hours but by air she could be at the target police station much quicker and still have her energy. It was time to get to work.

May had landed a kilometre away from the station and walked the rest of the way. Upon making visual contact May still had some time to burn as the sun was still up though it wouldn't be long now. As see rested May's thoughts kept going back to the battle Ash had fought that day. He was far stronger now compared to the last time she saw him fight, figuring out a strategy wasn't usually hard for her but she kept reminding herself that she was effectively going to fight an Elite Four member. In that regards she didn't know if any thought up plan was going to be effective, she was a top coordinator but even the best coordinators struggled against trainers of Ash's calibre.

Her planning and worrying did help pass the time as night had taken over and now she was ready to infiltrate.

From what she had seen the station's security was fairly relaxed being in a remote town but she still took every precaution as she leapt over the fence and rushed to the nearest entry point, another ventilation system. Being a small building she wouldn't have to navigate a long network like the Devon Corp building but it had one narrow section that she couldn't avoid. As she reached it May knew she'd have to slide on her back to get through, thought the actual slim section was only a metre long. She pushed her legs under and then glided her hips through followed by her stomach only narrowly fitting. What troubled her though were her breasts which didn't quite fit, May sighed as she was forced to compress them as best she could and pull her body through the small space. As she pulled herself free May breathed a sigh of relief.

"Glad no one was around to see that." She thought to herself.

May remembered always being well developed even as a child, as she had grown her features had become even more pronounced. May remembered in her training a female trainer said she should 'Use her assets' she knew in some situation she could indeed do that but not when operating in tight spaces. May finally made it to the stations computer room, she did exactly the same as she did at the Devon Corp, disable the cameras, upload the virus, check for more intel and then got out of there. No one noticed her go in and no one noticed her go out, she was completely invisible. She moved far enough away got back on her secret Pokémon and flew back to the Pokémon centre where Ash and herself were staying at. May landed a fair distance away so nobody would see her and after changing into her normal clothes walked the rest of the way. As she entered the centre May couldn't see Ash anywhere, figuring he had gone to his room May walked to her own. May and Ash's room were beside each other's and though she didn't want to disturb him May knocked on his door to see if he was indeed there.

May only had to wait a few seconds before Ash opened the door appearing to be sweating and wearing a tight white training shirt.

"Hey your back, how was the photo shoot?" Ash asked happy to see her.

"It went well." May answered simply, noticing Ash was breathing heavily.

"Ash why do look so out of breath?" May asked

"I've just been doing my exercises, I mean I can't have my Pokémon train hard and have me just sit around." Ash explained. "Besides the Pokémon League wants its members to stay fit."

May noticed some of the muscles on Ash's body, not realising his fitness was partly a job requirement.

"I didn't know the League wanted its members to train that much." May responded.

"You'd be surprised what the league has us do." Ash wiped his forehead. "By the way why did you get us separate rooms? Wouldn't it have been cheaper to get one with two beds?" Ash asked.

"I just didn't want to disturb you was all." The brunette told Ash.

"Come on May you wouldn't disturb me, even if you had a photo shoot in the room itself." Ash grinned.

"I'm beginning to think you want to see me posing in front of camera." May joked.

"Only if it's a swimsuit shoot." Ash chuckled.

May pushed him lightly in the chest "Ash!" She laughed.

"I think all that exercise has numbed your brain." She taunted.

"You might be right." Ash laughed making May laugh along with him.

"Good night Ash." May said before walking to her door.

"Goodnight May." Ash waited till May was in her room before he shut his door, turning around to see Pikachu with his arms crossed and a knowing look on his face.

"What, what's that look for?" Ash crossed his own arms.

Pikachu motioned his head to May's room and raised his eyebrow in a cocky matter.

"Come on that was just a bit of fun between friends, nothing like you seem to think it is." Ash assured Pikachu who just shrugged and laid down beside the bed.

"Alright I'll have a shower and then get into bed, see you soon." Ash addressed his starter who already was starting to sleep.

As Ash walked to the centre's showers he remembered he found out about an important location nearby and he was going to surprise May with it tomorrow.


	7. Slight Diversion

Chapter 7: Slight diversion

May had been up most of the night looking up her next target, it would be simple as it was in the next town. Her and Ash would arrive in it later that day and it was also further away from where New Magma would activate there final plan. May tried not to worry about that details, the actual plan involving Groudon wasn't set to go ahead for a long time May could have both of them separated by half the region if she choose to by then.

The walk to the next town would take most of the day so May got up early and packed hoping Ash was a morning person. When she exited her room May was surprised to see Ash packed and waiting for her with Pikachu in the main hall.

"Morning." Ash greeted her cheerfully.

"Good morning." May gave Ash a slightly puzzled look.

"I got you breakfast." Ash handed her a nicely made roll.

"Um thanks." May took the roll still a bit amazed Ash was up before her.

"I know I should have told you earlier but I've got a special surprise for you that just happens to be along the way to the next town." Ash spoke excitably.

"Really what is it?" May asked.

"Come on May, you know it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you." Ash winked.

"True, are you sure it's not going to cut into our travel time?" May inquired.

"Trust me it will only take a few minutes off and we'll be in town before mid-afternoon." Ash assured her.

"Well I guess it couldn't hurt." May thought out loud.

"Great let's get going." Ash started jogging to the exit.

"Well slow down till I finished my breakfast." May cried out making Ash grind to a halt.

"Right sorry, I forgot." Ash scratched the back of his head.

May rolled her eyes slightly at Ash's childlike action, biting into her breakfast as she caught up with the almost hyperactive trainer.

Ash and May began there walk with Pikachu walking between them and occasionally climbing on either of the trainers shoulders. May noted when they didn't take the mountain path to the next town but kept going alongside the mountain, but Ash had assured her he knew a way to get back on track and she assumed his navigation skills had improved to some extent over time. After a lengthy walk May noticed the forest beginning to fade away to more open areas, it was then that Ash stopped them and checked his map.

"Ash please tell me we aren't lost." May started to get concerned.

Ash looked ahead and smiled to himself before turning to May.

"Actually were right on track, now put this on." Ash presented May with a blindfold.

"So it's that type of surprise." May stated as she reluctantly took the blindfold.

"Come on put it on already." Ash started to get excited.

"Alright, alright I just hope this isn't some prank of yours." May warned.

"Trust me you'll love it." Ash stated as May covered her eyes.

The brunette sucked it up and had her hand grabbed by Ash who walked her along. It was a curious feeling not being able to see and with little outside noise May's attention was drawn to holding Ash's hand. She couldn't pin point the feeling but she had only held Ash's hand when he shook her own or when one of the two were rescuing the other, in most cases it happened to be Ash rescuing her.

Her thoughts were brought back to the present when she noticed she was walking on something wooden, images flashes in her head on what she could be on but she knew it could be practically anything.

"Ok here should be good." Ash stopped them walking.

"May keep your eyes closed and I'll take the blindfold off." Ash instructed.

"Alright, let's do this." May did as she was told.

Ash removed the blind fold from around May's eyes he then stood beside her telling her to open her them. May was hit momentarily by the glare but as her eyes adjusted she saw a beautiful sight.

May was looking over a beautiful clear lake which spread out in front of her glistening from the sunlight. Looking around she could see a strikingly lush meadow meeting the tall trees of the nearby forest. May noted she was standing on the edge of a wooden mote that stretched about ten meters from the shore. Memories started to flash in her head, she had been here before but it was such long time ago.

"Ash is this?" May began to ask.

"It's Lake May, remember we came here all those years ago? I can recall you saying how beautiful this place was." Ash recalled the event.

May looked back over the seemingly untouched environment feeling a great sense of nostalgia as she did. A lot of areas in Hoenn had been taken over by expanding industry over the last few years wiping out many beautiful types of scenery such as this one. That was one reason why May had joined New Magma, to protect the little they had left. However Lake May seemed to have escaped that fate and had changed little since May had last been here with Ash all those years ago. A little overcome by Ash's thoughtfulness in surprising her with a great memory from her childhood May couldn't help but smile.

"Ash this is beautiful, thank you so much." May turned to Ash but realised he was no longer beside her. Turning around May saw Ash had taken his bag and hat off and was now in swimming shorts half way through taking is shirt off.

"Ash what are you doing?" May asked.

"What does it look like?" Ash grinned after putting down his shirt and started running to the edge of the moat. "Cannon Ball!"

May moved out of Ash's path as he sprinted past her with Pikachu by his side. When the two reached the edge both of them jumped into the air tucked in their legs and cannon balled the water creating a huge splash. May had not expected this and stared at the water feeling that her moment of reflection had been slightly tampered. Ash and Pikachu rose to the surface at the same time and laughed lightly to themselves.

"Ash you can't swim here." May exclaimed.

"Yes you can this entire lake is a public swimming area, look behind you." Ash pointed.

May looked around and saw a small set of shower blocks and some signage, some clearly stating that this area was safe to swim in.

"Well ok then but we don't have time for a swim now." May placed one hand on her hip.

"Come on May we won't be that long, and when we were packing up I saw you had some swim wear." Ash smiled.

May knew that she wouldn't be able to get Ash out of the water without physically hulling him out. She also knew that they could easily stay here for two hours and arrive with adequate time.

"Alright but no more distractions after this ok." May pointed a finger sternly at Ash.

Raising both hands Ash nodded and with that May walked to the shower blocks to get changed, for now she'd oblige in the chance to relax a while.

Ash continued to swim leisurely while he waited for May, Pikachu didn't stay in for long as swimming wasn't his strongest point and rested on the shore. Although he hadn't been in the lake for long Ash got rather bored swimming alone quite quickly. Looking past the moat towards the showers Ash wondered if May was alright or if he was just being impatient.

"What's taking her so long?" Ash asked himself.

"I'm up here." May's voice came from above him.

Looking up Ash saw May at the edge of the moat, it was a good thing she wasn't looking at him because Ash's jaw nearly hit the water.

May was wearing a bright red two piece bikini that put all the pictures Ash had seen of her before to shame. Her long shaved legs met her beautifully toned hourglass figure which didn't have an ounce of fat anywhere on it. As May removed her bandana she released her brunette hair that fell to the sides of her face, Ash didn't like to use the word perfect but May's body was as close to his view of a perfect female figure as he had ever seen. May turned around to put her bandana in her bag unwittingly showing herself off to Ash even more. Her rear wasn't overly large but appeared firm, and her breasts matched her body type incredibly well. As May turned around Ash averted his gaze, he wasn't sure if it was his young adult hormones or the fact that this was the first time he had seen her in a bikini as an adult, but the mere sight of his friend turned model had him in a daze.

Oblivious to what she was doing to Ash May was ready to go into the lake and casually jumped in a few meters away from Ash. The water was a pleasant cool temperature and May enjoyed staying underwater for as long as she could before rising to the surface. As she wiped the water from her face May looked around for Ash. The water was just clear enough for her to see Ash's outline beneath the surface appearing to be staring at the lake bed. A little confused at Ash's lack of movement May started to wade over to him. Right before she got to arms distance Ash rose and upon seeing May so close stared at her like he had just seen a ghost.

"Ash why are you looking at me like that?" May asked.

"Um no reason." Ash fought hard not to look at May's chest which was just out of the water.

"Ok then what were you doing in the water just then?" May got more inquisitive.

"Um nothing important." Ash answered hiding the fact that he was actually trying to stop thinking about her.

"Well don't just stand there looking like you just got licked by a Haunter come and talk with me." May eased back into the water.

"I'm sorry I didn't realise you needed to be the centre of attention all the time." Ash teased.

"Hey you're the one who pulled me into this lake." May countered splashing Ash with some water.

"Correction, I lead you here, you jumped in all on your own." Ash splashed May back.

"Only because you refused to get out in the first place." May started to giggle sending a small wave in Ash's direction.

"I told you, we have the time." Ash laughed at their mock argument as the splash session turned into a full on water fight.

Pikachu watched from the shore as the two apparent adults played around in the water like children. He was happy to see May was finally starting to loosen up around Ash, she was now beginning to act like her old self again.

The water fight continued on with both Ash and May laughing and throwing water randomly to try and get one another. May felt a cease in the splashing and looked in Ash's direction only to find no sign of him. May saw movement below her, realising to late Ash had swum under the surface to her position. He wrapped his arms around May's legs and lifted her up. May squealed as Ash lifted her out of the water standing with his arms around her thighs and May's body straight in the air. May laughed while fighting for her balance while Ash shook his head close to her hip. May looked down at the raven haired trainer who was now holding her steady.

"What are you going to do now?" The brunette taunted.

Ash shrugged momentarily before deliberately falling back into the water taking May with him. May half shrieked, half laughed as she was sent plummeting into the water. Feeling Ash loosen his grip May was ready to resurface when Ash's arm suddenly wrapped around her back and she was lifted up over his shoulder. May laughed even harder at his antics as he started walking back towards the shore.

"Come on May if you're so worried about getting there late we better get moving." Ash said mockingly.

"No I want to stay now!" May laughed while lightly punching Ash in the back.

"Alright then" Ash put plainly before tossing May off to the side.

May's shriek of surprise was cut short as she splashed into the lake and disappeared under the surface. Ash waited with a huge grin on his face for May to resurface, when she did the brunette had a very scheming look on her face. As May stood up Ash saw she was holding two pieces of dirt from the bottom of the lake in her hands and Ash had an idea of what she planned to do with them.

"May don't do it." Ash raised one hand in defence.

With that May hurled her first pile of mud straight at Ash who dodged to his left, but May had anticipated this move and in a flash threw her other pile directly into Ash's face. The mud spread across Ash's jaw and some ended up in his mouth causing the trainer to groan loudly at the taste and then sunk his head into the water beneath him.

"Serve's you right for throwing me around like that Ketchum." May scorned Ash as he washed his mouth out.

May then saw something out of the corner of her eye, what looked like a large Pokémon in the air. Looking up May confirmed it to be a Fearow flying high above them, this in itself wasn't odd but what kept her attention was the way it was flying. It circled above the lake seemingly scanning the area, Fearow's could stay in the air for long periods of time but as May watched it she remembered some important details. Fearow's were often used by New Magma like airborne drones with cameras mounted on their necks to survey an area, or track targets. Was New Magma keeping track of her progress? May suddenly remembered when she first met Ash outside the Devon Corp building that Captain Gregson had known about it almost instantly. This was a disturbing thought but it was interrupted when Ash wrapped his arms around May's waist and lifted her up again.

"You should really pay attention to your surroundings." Ash exclaimed as he pulled May in a circle.

"Ash stop." May asked placing her hand over his.

Ash felt her discomfort and stopped his spinning. "What is it?" he asked.

"I really think we should get going." May said while looking directly into Ash's eyes.

"You're really worried about getting to this place on time aren't you?" The raven haired trainer inquired.

"It's just the guy who runs it can be, pretty rough going." May told the truth.

"Alright if it puts you at ease we'll get going." Ash stated.

Ash then noticed that he still had his arms around May, after rather awkwardly removing them Ash made his way to the shore. May gave a small smile at his discomfort and waded behind him. As Ash got out of the water May got a better look at his body. She was right in her assumptions that he was fit, without his shirt on May could easily see the muscles in his upper body. He had great development along his arms, shoulders and chest as well as nice abs. She almost thought it was a shame he had to wear a shirt all the time because it covered what was no doubt a lot of work. Ash picked up Pikachu and walked to the moat, as he did May swore Pikachu was smiling at her as if he knew what she was looking at.

"I hope Pikachu isn't a chatty Pokémon." May thought to herself before getting onto the moat herself.

The trainer and the coordinator grabbed their bags and got changed in the shower blocks, feeling anxious with a possible spy Fearow watching them May got out first though she didn't have to wait long for Ash to change and then they were immediately back onto the mountain path. Leaving their short detour at Lake May behind them.


	8. A time before us

Chapter 8: A time before us

The path into the mountain wasn't very steep, it winded up through the forest making it easier for people who didn't travel very often. For Ash and May who had been on the road for years it was no different to walking normally.

With the stillness of the forest and almost complete silence around her May had plenty of time to think. To her frustration May's thoughts kept coming back to Ash. She remembered having a small crush on him when they first travelled in Hoenn, something she felt again when she met him for the Wallace Cup in Sinnoh. But the few times she met him afterwards the brunette didn't feel the same way. She tried to remember why that changed and why she was suddenly having these same feelings surface again. Then she remembered, back then Ash was with someone. A blonde haired girl who he had gotten together with a few years ago though her name escaped her. Digging through her memories May recalled when Ash had come to see her after she had won the Grand Festival, she remembered being introduced to this girl by Ash and suddenly her name became clear, Serena.

Now May was curious, if the two of them were still together why wouldn't Serena come alone, or why Ash would come at all for that matter.

"Ash weren't you in a relationship with a girl called Serena?" May asked.

Hearing Serena's name made Ash nearly freeze in his tracks, it was true he had been in a very close relationship with Serena for a few years since he had visited Kalos, but that had ended not to long ago.

"Y-yeah I was together with Serena, but we." Ash trailed off remembering the last time he spent with Serena.

"It's ok you don't have to tell me what happened." May told Ash despite her curiosity.

"Actually I think it's time I faced up to what happened, instead of running away from it." Ash admitted more to himself then to May.

"I had been together with Serena for nearly three years, everything was going great, we brought a house in Kanto, and it was probably the happiest years of my life." Ash reflected.

"But everything started to change when I got into the Elite Four. I was working longer hours, spending less time at home, going on sudden long trips. I didn't notice it at first but Serena was becoming less and less happy the more I got involved with my job."

May listened intently, she knew the conversation had only one outcome but for whatever reason she wanted to hear what happened.

"We started having arguments, to me they didn't seem to major but then one day it just got out of control." Ash breathed in as he prepared to talk about the argument.

"She started off saying that I don't spend enough time with her, I tried to explain that I'm not just a gym leader I have to be all over the place at any time. She then started accusing me of not loving her anymore and at that point we both started shouting at each other." Ash lowered his head.

"It kept going on and on back and forth both of us just ripping into each other over the dumbest things. And then she said that I spend too much time with-" Ash paused as he recalled the event.

"She said 'You spend too much time with those stupid Pokémon.' Ash forced out the sentence.

"And the worst thing was, her Delphox was in the other room with Pikachu and could hear everything we were saying." Ash had to look away at that point, the hurt of the incident still affecting him.

"After that, I told her to leave. She packed her things and left, needless to say we are no longer together." Ash finished.

The area fell silent after Ash's reflection, even Pikachu didn't bother to squeak. May didn't know how to start, three years was a long time to be in a first relationship and to have it end on a note like that would have been hard on Ash, and Serena.

"How long ago was this?" May asked.

"Two weeks ago." Ash responded.

"Only two weeks?" May exclaimed. "Ash are you sure you're ok?" The brunette asked.

"Well that's why I took a holiday, to clear my head and travel for a bit and I thought Hoenn would be a good region to go to." Ash explained.

"Why Hoenn?" May continued to ask.

"Just thought it would be a good place to unwind is all." Ash thought out loud.

"Well I don't think what Serena said to you was right, even if you didn't stay at home all the time she should of known how important being part of the Pokémon League is." May tried her best to comfort Ash. "And saying that about your Pokémon was going too far I mean-"

"I almost hit her May." Ash suddenly stated causing May to cut her sentence short.

"After what she said about my Pokémon I raised my hand and was about to hit her, when we both realised what I had almost done I told her to leave because I didn't know what I would do from that point on. I didn't know if I could control myself." Ash admitted, the shame of his actions showing on his face.

"But you didn't hit her, so isn't that something? May asked despite knowing she wouldn't of accepted Ash's actions either.

"May you don't have to try and make me feel better. The next day Serena came back and we both agreed that we should go our separate ways. She just had a lot of anger built up and needed someone to be there for her, she's moved back to Kalos now and we both wished each other the best." Ash laid out the last few days of his relationship with Serena.

'I hope Ash didn't come over here looking for someone to replace Serena, because there's no way I can have someone like him in my life. Not to mention the trouble he's caused me already.' May thought to herself.

"Hey May," Ash's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Thanks for letting me join you, I know I can be a pain sometimes and I know I shouldn't have wasted our time at the lake but-"

"It's alright Ash, I'm sure everything will turn out right in the end." The brunette put the trainers mind at ease.

"Thanks May." Ash gave the coordinator a smile.

May wasn't sure what she gained from learning about Serena from a mission's perspective. However she did learn a bit more about Ash's character, he seemed deeply affected by what had happened yet hadn't let it show until now. Ash had always been focused on the here and now, another attribute that hadn't left him. May wondered if she could use that to her advantage somehow.

"You hear that?" Ash asked out of the blue.

"Hear what?" May replied stopping so she could listen better.

"It sounds like the cry of a Pokémon, I think it might be lost or hurt. Pikachu lets go check it out." Ash turned to his partner before running off in the noises direction.

"Wow some things never change at all." May referenced Ash's one track mind before running after him.

**I didn't really want to beat up on Serena but I thought by diving into Ash's past it would add a bit to the story. Just for reference I don't dislike Serena I actually don't mind her as a character. I just needed one of Ash's friends to take the fall and she seemed like the most likely to hook up with Ash especially with X and Y being the current season. Short chapter I know but the next one is pretty long and I can never seem to get a regular length to my stories. Hope everyone is enjoying the story so far, please feel free to leave a comment they really help me to continue writing. **


	9. Armour of the Mountain

Chapter 9: Armour of the Mountain

May followed Ash as he ran into the forest after the strange noise. She could clearly hear it now and it defiantly sounded like some sort of cry. Ash stopped running and looked around sensing the Pokémon was now within sight. There was a large cluster of rocks which were partially blocking the entrance of a cave on the mountain's side but the cry was coming from the outside of the cave in the undergrowth. Ash listened again and pinpointed the position of the cries. Pulling back some ferns Ash finally saw the source of all the noise. A small Aron was whimpering by itself and struggling to walk on what appeared to be a wounded leg. At the sight of Ash though it reared up and faced him head on ready to defend itself despite its injuries.

"Easy there little guy, I'm not going to hurt you." Ash said as he lowered himself to appear less threatening.

The small steel type wasn't backing down and growled lowly at his new threat. Ash sensed the Pokémon's aggression and shuffled back to give it some space he then placed his hands behind his back but the Aron still stared him down.

"I've got to tend to its wounds somehow." Ash thought out loud then felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Ash just let me handle this." May spoke softly and positioned herself in front of him.

"It's alright little one were here to help you." May continued to speak softly while she looked around in her bag.

Ash could see the Aron breathing easier in May's presence but it still didn't let its guard down with two possible attackers around him. May pulled out some Pokémon food and pooled some into her hand, she then slowly moved her hand forward so the Aron could smell it.

"Come on now, you'll really enjoy it." May nearly whispered.

The Aron sniffed the food and could be seen calming down. It took a few cautious steps forward, limping slightly on its bad leg. When it was in reach the youngster immediately started chomping down the food as quick as he could showing how hungry he was.

"There you go." May exclaimed happily.

"Wow he makes my eating habits look tame by comparison." Ash addressed Pikachu.

When the Aron had finished eating he licked his lips trying to savour the taste. Now that May was in a good position she moved her hand over the Aron's head and waited for it to see her so she didn't startle it. When it did May waited for it not to attack and then carefully lowered her hand onto its head. Ash watched in complete silence as May tentatively rubbed its head, the steel type had given complete trust to May and was now nothing like the aggressive youngster he had first seen. Having eased into May's touch the Aron didn't move as May moved closer. The young girl sat cross legged beside the small Pokémon and then lifted him up into her lap. Though slightly nervous at first the Aron quickly calmed down once May started lightly patting and stroking its back.

"There you go now isn't that better?" May spoke. She then signalled to Ash that it was clear for him to move up. While trying to make as little noise as possible Ash walked over and looked through his own bag for the right medicine.

"That was really well done May." Ash complemented his friend.

"Some things just need a women's touch." May assured him.

Ash pulled out some medical spray and bandages, before applying anything Ash examined the Aron's leg.  
"It looks like it might have been attacked but fended off its attacker. Aron usually live underground so I wonder if this one got lost and somehow ended out here in the forest." Ash questioned as he looked back at the cave entrance.

"It might have gotten temporarily blinded by the sunlight when it came out and then a predator struck." May added.

"Either way his leg isn't too badly hurt and there doesn't seem to be any other injuries, it's just because he's young that he was making such a racket. He was probably trying to call his friends." Ash said as he got his meds ready.

"Do you think it'll be able to find its way home?" May asked still comforting the Aron.

"My bet is as soon he gets back into that cave he'll dig right back down, once he's underground his friends will have a better chance of hearing him as well." Ash assured her.

"Here May you feed him some of this potion and I'll spray and bandage the wound." Ash instructed and he handed May the bottle.

May took the potion and lowered it in from of the Aron, as she squeezed some of the liquid out the steel type lapped at it, happy to receive some more nurturance. Ash then sprayed the wound on its leg with an antiseptic and bandaged up the leg. Being a steel type and with its mind set on eating the young Aron barely noticed.

"Ok that should stop the pain and any infection, let's get him over to the cave and set him off." Ash said as he stood up.

May nodded and while cradling the Aron stood up and walked over to the cave entrance. Ash was very impressed by how easily May handled and calmed down the small Aron especially since it was so afraid of him. Perhaps she was right when she talked about having a women's touch, but Ash felt there was a little more to it than that.

Before Ash could voice his admiration for May's talents the ground started to shake. May held the Aron closer to her while Ash grabbed a nearby tree with one hand and steadied Pikachu on his shoulder. The trembling kept increasing causing some of the rocks in front of the cave to topple over.

"Is it an earthquake?" May asked.

"No something's coming from under the ground look." Ash pointed at a sudden crack that had appeared next to the cave entrance.

The crack soon splintered into a large breach in the wall and suddenly the cause was revealed. A large and very angry Aggron burst out of the wall and started looking around the area clearly searching for something. Its eyes fixed on May when it saw she had the Aron in her hands, it let out an ear piecing roar that had both human and Pokémon alike recoiling.

"May that Aggron might be the Aron's mother you have to put it down right now." Ash called out.

"Alright, I'll do it." May managed to force out her eyes never leaving the fearsome looking creature in front of her.

May did her best to slowly and carefully lower the Aron down to the ground despite her slight shaking and with the Aggron's gaze fixed on her. When she set the young Aron down it ran as best it could to the larger Pokémon's side and nuzzled its leg. The protective mother looked down at her offspring and seemed to calm down with him now beside her. May let out sigh of relief both for seeing the Aron back in safe hands and the fact that she hadn't being attacked. She turned to Ash but instantly saw him signalling for her not to move, sensing the danger hadn't passed.

He was right the Aggron positioned itself in front of the Aron and faced directly at May, the coordinator turned back to face it and saw the beast charging an attack in its mouth.

"May get out of there!" Ash shouted.

With danger right in front of her May's training kicked in. The colour of the attack gave away that it was Flash Cannon, she readied her feet and waited a split second for the Aggron to fire. As it did she sprung to the side and rolled avoiding the attack which collided with a tree breaking and splintering the branches while creating a small smoke cloud between herself and Ash. May got up and eyed the Aggron who was already lining up for another attack. May knew she could avoid the blast but she couldn't keep doing it all day. She prepared to run when a sudden weight hit her shoulder driving her to the ground. Hitting the ground with a loud gasp May realised one of the branches had fallen and struck her. Though the branch wasn't huge the impact was enough to drive her to the ground and wind her, she coughed while trying to get back up when she heard the sound of another attack charging. Looking up May knew she didn't have time to dodge now the Aggron had her fixed and was only moments away from firing, with nowhere to go May shut her eyes.

Another weight hit her again but this time from the side, as it did it rolled turning her just managing to avoid the Flash Cannon attack that hit the ground where she lay moments before.

Opening her eyes May saw Ash holding her away from the blast after he had dived to save her, he looked over her to see she was alright and then turned around.

"Pikachu use Thunderbolt!" Ash cried out to his starter.

Pikachu jumped between his trainer and the Aggron and fired his electricity hitting the large Pokémon head on. While the Aggron cried out from the attack Ash wasted no time in pulling May up and running with her hand in his. May tried to keep up as Ash started running downhill through the scrub but every step was harrowing since she had the wing knocked out of her. No matter how hard she tried May couldn't get a lung full of air, she felt faint and cursed herself for having to stop.

"Ash wait." May wheezed out weakly.

Ash stopped running and placed both hands on May's shoulders. "Are you alright?" He asked his voice full of concern.

"I-I just need-one-moment." May struggled be breath let alone talk.

"Quick get down." Ash instructed pressing May down behind a tree.

Pikachu came sliding down the hill they just got past when the Aggron appeared at the top ignoring Pikachu's angry barks, it's eyes once again scanning the area but this time looking for May.

May couldn't stop herself from coughing and the noise gave her and Ash's position away to the Aggron. The angry steel type growled as it charged up another Flash Cannon attack, Ash realised it was aiming in their direction and grabbed May's arm and hooked his other hand around her shoulder doing his best to move her out of danger. May stumbled as Ash practically hauled her away from the tree before the Flash Cannon hit it sending bark and wood in all directions.

"Pikachu distract that Aggron." Ash yelled.

Pikachu ran closer to the enraged Pokémon shouting as loud as he could to try and protect his friends. The Aggron turned to face Pikachu sweeping its tail in an attempt to bat away the annoyance. Pikachu easily dodged it and continued to distract the Aggron hoping Ash could get May somewhere safe in time.

With the threat engaging Pikachu Ash pulled May behind a mound of earth covered in moss and leaf litter. She was still having trouble breathing and Ash knew that even with all of Pikachu's strength he would have trouble fighting that Aggron alone.

"Stay here I'm going to try help Pikachu." Ash instructed May.

"I'm fine-let me-help-you." May wheezed.

"Listen to me May stay here I'll be right back." Ash said placing one hand on her shoulder.

"I'm not helpless-I can-" May tried to say before falling into a fit of coughs.

"Just do what I say." Ash enforced while reaching for a Pokeball and turning around. As he got out from behind the small amount of cover he looked around for Pikachu. He suddenly saw the small electric type sent flying through the air crying in pain before he smashed violently into a tree, falling to the floor his body concealed by the undergrowth."

"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed running to his best friend's position oblivious to the Aggron's location.

May heard Ash cry out, she looked up to see the trainer sprinting through the plants in desperation. She was done lying around she wouldn't allow either Ash or Pikachu to get hurt for trying to protect her. Pushing through the pain in her chest and back May steadied herself and searched through her bag for her Pokeballs. All of a sudden saw the Aggron appear at the top of the hill but this time it had her in its sights straight away and was already about to fire. With her hand unable to find a ball in time May looked in Ash's direction, he had Pikachu in his arms and his back to her, there was no help for her now.

May felt the ground burst from beneath her as the Aggron's attack hit the mound partially covering her and she was sent hurdling through the air. Pieces of leaves and earth flew all around her, she managed to see a tree to her side and reached out for it. But her hand slammed into the trunk and she felt a sharp pain rip across her fingers. May clutched her injured left hand before she suddenly hit the ground but this part of the hill was a lot steeper than the part she was just on and with her momentum from the fall May rolled down unable to stop herself. She kept tumbling down trying desperately to grab hold of something with her free arm. May's right knee hit a rock as she fell, pain seared through up her leg and she knew the knee cap had been damaged. As she pulled in both her legs her right leg was cut by a stray log, leaving a deep gash up her thigh and cutting into her shorts. May screamed as her body was battered and cut still unable to stop herself.

Finally May stopped rolling and landed on her stomach though she was still sliding she pushed through the pain and dug her strong hand into the ground slowing her decent. She looked behind her and spotted some strong looking roots sticking out of the ground. Just before passing them May grabbed the solid root and clung on, she felt herself slow down and then completely stop. May was covered in dirt and leaf matter but all she could think about was the aching pain throughout her, though she knew her right leg and knee no doubt had some bad injuries, May brought her left hand to her face. Seeing the injury only made it worse, her middle and index fingers were both dislocated and bent to the right at a sickening angle. May turned her head not wanting to look at her own injuries, the pain made her afraid to even move in case she did something worse. Through it all May noticed something off about her feet, she couldn't touch the ground. Looking over her shoulder May's eyes widened as she realised her feet were hanging off the very edge of a cliff face, if she hadn't stopped herself she would of fallen straight off.

A loud detonation reached her ears, she couldn't see the source but she knew Ash had to be still fighting the Aggron. May tried curling up her wounded leg but her knee screamed at her to stop, the brunette knew she wouldn't be able to get up that hill without help, this track wasn't used to often by people and there was no phone reception up here, there was only one option left.

"ASH!" May screamed as loud as she could, her voice full of pain and desperation. "Help me!"

Her cry pierced through the forest and reached the very trainer who was frantically looking for her while his Pokémon tried to subdue the enraged Aggron. Ash heard her scream and knew without a doubt she was in trouble, and a lot of it.

"May where are you!" Ash cried out running in the voices direction. He nearly fell down the very hill May had gone down when he came across the steep sloop, he called out again getting more desperate the longer he couldn't find her. "May! Where are you!"

"I'm down here." May tried to call out but she all she could manage was a distressed weep.

Then as if things couldn't get any worse May felt the ground beneath her legs begin to crumble. She didn't have to look to know the edge of the cliff was breaking, she gripped the root she was holding praying that the ground would hold out underneath her body but as she spotted the earth under her own arm begin the crack she knew it wouldn't. All the ground beneath her suddenly dropped away as she began to fall. May screamed holding onto the root for dear life. Somehow the root didn't break and May remained suspended in the air now against the side of the cliff. With no weight on top of it and with the rest of the tree roots supporting it the ground stopped breaking apart, looking around May tried to put her foot into the side of the cliff face but more of it broke away at her touch. May looked down and confirmed that it was indeed a large drop to the ground but she spotted some water, what looked like a pool of water at the base of the ridge, though she had no idea of how deep it went. It was directly under her and if it was deep enough it was possible she could survive the fall. May knew one truth, there was no way she could pull herself up with two dislocated fingers and a wounded leg.

"Come on May call out to me!" Ash voice came over the edge.

"I'm over here I need help!" May shouted.

"Hold on I'm coming just keep talking to me!" Ash responded.

"Please hurry!" May cried though she could tell Ash was not close enough.

Fatigue was starting to set in, she was already drained of energy from her fall down the hill and the throbbing pain all over her body only assisted in her plight.

"Ash I'm going to try something." May wearily called out.

"I don't like the way you're talking May, whatever it is just wait I'm close." Ash responded.

"I think this is the only way." May said under her breath.

"May I'm nearly there don't do anything stupid." Ash called out.

"I'm sorry." The young coordinator whispered not wanting Ash to risk himself anymore. Her hand was slipping to the end of the root, May looked down at the water braced herself, and let go.

Time seemed to slow down as May began to fall, she could have sworn she heard the scrapping of feet above her but she was looking down at the water and couldn't tell. All of a sudden she felt something grip her arm and her fall was completely stopped as quickly as it had begun. May gazed back up and saw Ash clinging to a root over the edge with one hand and holding her arm with his other. He was supporting both of their weights on a single arm, he groaned as the rocks dug into his fingers.

"Ash?" May uttered nearly in disbelief.

"I'm here," Ash forced out. "Don't worry I'm going to get you out of here." Ash assured her as her tried to lift her. Ash lifted his hand to his shoulder height but was unable to pull May any further growling as he used all of his strength to try and get May to safety but it was too much for his one arm and he was forced to lower May back down, his breathing becoming heavy as he did.

"Ash there's some water below me, if you swing me at the right angle I'll be able to land in it." May explained.

Ash looked down and saw the pool she was referring to, he didn't know if May had thought this through or she wasn't thinking straight, but to Ash dropping her was the same as giving up.

"I'm not going to do that May." Ash informed her.

"I'll be fine, just trust me on this." May tried to sound confident.

"You trust me on this, I'm not going to drop you." Ash spoke more firmly.

"You just have to look after yourself Ash please." May pleaded with him.

"May just shut up dammit!" Ash shouted causing May to completely stop her arguing.

"I don't care if there's some water down there, I don't care if there was a mountain of pillows at the bottom. There is no way that I'm going to let you go, if anything were to happen to you, I couldn't live with myself knowing that I could of prevented it." Ash declared to her.

May hadn't realised how selfish she had acted, Ash was willing to put his own life on the line her. Literally dive of a sheer cliff to rescue her and instead of helping him get both of them out of the situation she opted to try and save herself. At the time May thought her willingness to fall into the water was brave, but with Ash here now she realized how ridiculous an idea it was. Her childhood friend was here to help her but he needed her help as well. Till now May hadn't been holding Ash's arm but his determination fuelling her own, the brunette grabbed his arm and held on tight.

May looked up into Ash's eyes as she spoke. "I'm sorry, I'm not going to try that again."

"It's alright just help me figure out a way to get out this." Ash smiled down.

May scanned the cliff face looking and thinking how they could use it to their advantage. She noticed a number of roots sticking out of the slope, from the way a single root was able to support both her and Ash's weight she was willing to bet it could hold under Ash's foot.

"Ash you see the roots near your leg, try and get your foot stable on one of them." May pointed to the thickest looking one that looped back into the mountain.

"Right I got it." Ash stated as he positioned his foot on top of the root and rested some of his weight on it. With steady footing and some of the strain taken off his hand Ash breathed a bit easier and then turned back to May.

"Ok I'm going to lift you up as high as I can, then I want you to lift your feet onto my leg and grab onto the ledge." Ash instructed her.

"Wait I hurt my right knee when I fell I'm not sure if I can bend it and I dislocated two of my fingers." May informed him.

"Alright then, put your left leg over my leg and then sit on it, then grab the ledge with your good hand." Ash changed his plan.

"Ok I'm ready." May told him.

Once again Ash pulled May's hand up to his shoulder level, this gave her enough height for her to bend her back and hook her leg around Ash's. She then pulled herself upwards and sat on his leg, Ash lifted May's hand to the edge and had her grab onto it before letting go and positioning his hand behind her back. Ash needed a short break but both of them felt more secure, with May now positioned on his leg their hips nearly touching all she had to do was get onto solid ground and Ash could pull himself out after her.

"Alright May you have to step back onto my leg and lift yourself onto the flat ground, when you get up there move away from the ledge don't worry about me, I just don't want more of this crumbling away you understand." Ash laid out the final steps.

"You got it." May managed half a smile.

"One more thing." Ash's serious tone dropped a bit. "I'm going to give you a boost as you go but there's only really one place I can push when you go up."

"Do you mean?" May began to question.

"Yeah I'm going to have to push your backside up." Ash said as seriously as he could.

May felt that by saying it out loud Ash had made the situation a lot more awkward then it had to be. If he had just given her the boost May might not have even questioned it, but at the very least it took her mind of the life threatening situation they were in."

"That's fine Ash I'm going to need the extra help." May assured him.

"Good I just didn't want to be putting my hands places you didn't want me too." Ash breathed easier despite their close proximity.

"Just don't get any ideas." May made a half joke half threat.

Ash nodded and with that May pulled herself up with her good hand and with Ash's free arm supporting her back she placed her foot on Ash's leg. As May lifted herself she grabbed further up the tree root till she was nearly straight up, she then pulled herself back onto the ledge. Ash helped push May up while trying to be none invasive as possible but May didn't concentrate on his hands position but on getting to safety. As she finally pulled her body and legs over the edge May felt a wave of relief wash over her after getting out of one of the most dangerous positions she had been in. But with that relief came a wave pain as well, till now she had been subconsciously suppressing the injuries on her knee and thigh. When she looked at her two dislocated fingers the throbbing and stinging only increased. May forced herself to crawl away from the edge following Ash instructions but everything only seemed to get worse as she moved, now her mind was only focused on her bodies distress and it was quickly taking over.

Ash waited till May was away from the edge before he began lifting himself up, though he was fatigued from hauling May out, with both his hands and a good foothold the trainer was up and moving away from the edge in no time. Nearly collapsing on the grass in exhaustion his thoughts were interrupted by May's harsh breathing. Looking to his side Ash saw May with her back against a tree clutching her hand, her eyes shut letting out deep breaths that barely hid her distress. Ash got up and was instantly at her side placing one hand on her shoulder.

"May let me look at your hand." Ash asked putting his own hand forward.  
May placed her palm on top of Ash's, showing him for the first time her damaged fingers. The two that were dislocated had lost some of their colour and though he didn't want to cause May any more pain he had to put them back into place.

"May I'm going to recollect your fingers, it's going to be painful but if I don't do it they could get a lot worse.

"Just do it already." May managed to force out.

Ash grabbed the base of May's middle finger with one hand and wrapped his fingers around the rest of the finger with the other. With a quick motion he snapped the knuckles back into place with a loud crack. May gasped and tried to pull away but Ash held her knowing it was just a reaction that she couldn't help.

"One more alright." Ash assured her getting a nod from the brunette.

With her permission Ash grabbed the last finger and snapped it back into place as well. This time May hissed through her clenched teeth and pulled her head into Ash's shoulder, taking deep breaths as some of the pain subsided. Ash removed one hand and rested it on her back to comfort her.

"You're doing well I'm proud of you." The trainer did his best to calm her down. "Now which knee is the one that's hurt?"

"My right, but I don't think it's broken." May said as she leant back.

Ash looked over May's knee and then asked her to bend it as best she could. May could pull it back slightly and Ash assumed her knee was indeed not broken when he noticed blood beginning to pool to May's side, Ash darted to her side and saw the cause.

"May your losing blood." Ash exclaimed seeing the large gash going up May's thigh cutting into her shorts.

"Did you have this the entire time?" Ash asked as he pulled off his bag and frantically looked for his med kit.

"I think so, everything happened when I was falling down that hill." May answered getting worried seeing Ash rummage through his pack so rapidly.

Ash got his med kit and pulled out his bandage roll, with the length of time that May had had that cut and the amount of blood she had lost just sitting there Ash knew he had to act quick. He didn't bother to ask before he grabbed May's cut short's leg and pushed it back to her hip so he could get at the entire wound. May was a little startled at his actions but then she herself saw the large cut which went most of the way up her leg. Ash quickly began wrapping around the wound closing it with the bandage. He had to lift May's leg as he got closer to her hip making May yell for a second as her knee was still very sore. Ash covered the entire wound and added more layers on top nearly depleting his entire bandage roll. When he was done he clipped it back so it couldn't come undone and then turned his attention directly to May herself.

"How do you feel? You feel tired or weak?" Ash fired questions at her.

"I feel fine why are you acting so paranoid?" May asked back.

Though Ash didn't know how much blood May had actually lost he had a feeling it was a substantial amount, what really worried him was how far away they were from any town or help. The bandages he used would need to be replaced if blood started seeping out of them but he just used up nearly all of them. He didn't want to scare May, what was best for her was to stay calm.

"It's alright now that I've got those bandages on, I just wanted to make sure you were ok." Ash explained.

May nodded when she heard a loud roar from further up the hill, along with some clashes of attacks. Pikachu was still fighting against the Aggron with what sounded like another Pokemon, May turned but Ash knew what she was going to ask.

"I released Sceptile before I came after you, don't worry I'm sure they'll be alright." Ash assured her.

"Shouldn't we try and help?" May tried to push herself up.

Ash rested his hand on her shoulder and eased her down. "May right now the best thing for you is to stay right here." Ash told her when he noticed her shirt was wet. When he examined his hand he saw a small amount of blood and got worried again.

"May your bleeding from your back, take your shirt off." Ash said as he moved his hands to the base of her shirt.

May suddenly grabbed the bottom of her shirt and pulled down denying Ash's request. Looking up she could see Ash's confusion as to why she had stopped him.

"May come on I've got to look at your back." Ash said to her but May seemed to be frozen. "I just saw you in a bikini at the lake before its nothing I haven't seen."

May knew Ash was right but for some reason she didn't want to take her shirt off, was it how he pulled back her shorts that got her riled up? After all he was right seeing her in a bra should be no different to seeing her in a bikini, however she already felt helpless enough. She had to trust Ash now. May released her grip and moved her hands above her head so Ash could pull her shirt over her head. Ash removed her shirt slowly sensing how uneasy she was. She was wearing a bright red bra but Ash didn't concentrate on that, instantly moving to her side and examining her back. May had a small wound on her lower shoulder that was bleeding slightly, Ash breathed a sigh of relief. He could take his time to disinfect it and the size of the cut meant it would only need a single band aid. As Ash looked in his pack he could still heard fate sounds of battle in the distance.

"I hope Pikachu and Sceptile are alright." May commented while covering her chest despite the fact Ash wasn't looking.

"So do I." Ash replied but his focus was on May, and how she was going to get out of here.


	10. Together on this Road

Chapter 10: Together on this road.

While Ash was saving May Pikachu and Sceptile battled the enraged Aggron. The two had extensive training throughout the years and this included how to act as a team but this situation was different. Pikachu tried time and time again to reason with the Aggron but she was having none of it.

"Would you listen to me we don't want to fight you." Pikachu yelled.

The Aggron roared at Pikachu and slashed her claws at him but wasn't fast enough to hit the electric type who easily dodged. As soon as Pikachu was out of the way Sceptile lunged forward and struck his Leaf Blade's into the Aggron's face forcing it to fall over backwards from the impact. Sceptile backed up so Pikachu could try and calm her down again but this tactic wasn't working except for the fact they had distracted it from Ash and May.

"Calm down we were trying to help your baby not hurt it." Pikachu tried again.

The Aggron's eyes widened at the mention of its offspring rearing back up and charging Pikachu's position. Sceptile was on it in a flash, jumping down from a tree and slamming his tail across the Aggron sending her flying into a rock.

"I don't think mentioning the angry mother's child was a good idea Pikachu." Sceptile huffed. "You sure you still don't want to knock her out?"

"No trust me I can reason with her." Pikachu assured him.

"Well you better get to reasoning because she ain't staying down." Sceptile raised his arms as the Aggron stood up again.

This time the mother roared loudly but she seemed to sway, then as she stepped forward her fatigue set in and she fell to one knee breathing heavily.

Pikachu knew that this Pokémon would fight to the death to defend her territory so he took a lighter tone. "Please we don't want to fight or harm anyone, we were just passing through." The small electric type tried to sway her.

"Be quiet! I'll rip you apart!" The ferocious creature spoke for the first time which sounded more like a roar. Both Pikachu and Sceptile braced for an attack when a small unheard voice called out.

"Stop it, please stop it!" A tiny cry came from behind the Aggron.

All three Pokémon looked and saw the same small Aron with the wounded leg limping towards his mother, when he reached her he clawed at her leg.

"Please stop fighting, their telling the truth I was hurt and they helped me, just stop fighting!" The young one pleaded tears forming in his eyes.

As her youngster sobbed at her feet the Aggron looked back at Pikachu and Sceptile. Pikachu signalled for his partner to lower his guard, as they did the mother looked back down at the Aron, his whimper's the only thing breaking the silence of the forest. The mother scooped up her child in her arms and looked back at her advisories.

"Leave." She growled lowly.

Pikachu nodded and the two both turned and walked back into the forest until they heard the Aggron's footsteps walking away. After a while Pikachu could hear her tunnelling back into the cave, he didn't know if she would be back so he concentrated on finding Ash.

"Sceptile did you see where Ash ran off to?" Pikachu asked.

"I can feel through the ground that they're over that way but watch your step it gets pretty steep real quick." Sceptile warned pointing in Ash and May's direction.

Both Pokémon made their way down the slope and soon found them. The first thing they noticed was May lying against a tree without a shirt on and Ash leaning over her. Both originally got the wrong idea but soon noticed that Ash was in fact performing first aid, by then Ash had seen their approach.

"Are you two alright?" Ash asked looking for any injuries on his Pokémon.

Both nodded to his relief, he didn't bother to ask what happened, at the moment he didn't really care.

"Sceptile return and thanks for everything." Ash said as he recalled Sceptile to his Pokeball.

"May we have to get you help as soon as possible." Ash told the brunette who was putting her shirt back on.

"Yes I'm feeling a lot better now." May then tried to stand. "I should be able to walk to the next town." May placed her wounded leg forward only to be meet by stabbing pain coming from her knee forcing her to recoil back into her sitting position. Though she didn't verbalise her pain Ash could see it all over her face.

"May we can't go to the next town, there's more uphill to go and we haven't even gotten halfway yet. Our only option is to go back to the Pokémon centre we stayed at." Ash told her bluntly.

May refused to believe what Ash was saying, she had a mission to complete in the next town tonight, she couldn't afford to back track. She went through her mind how they could overcome this.

"Ash can't we try and call for help?" May asked.

"There's no phone reception up here remember." Ash told her.

"Well can one of your Pokémon fly or carry us there? May asked more frantically.

"The only one who could lift us is Charizard and he can only take one person. Plus he wouldn't be able to see the path through the trees and I doubt you could navigate from the air." Ash explained having already thought about it in detail.

May slouched backwards and shut her eyes, there had to be some way. If she didn't complete her next objection she was screwed, they wouldn't care about her injuries all they would see is a frail girl who couldn't suck it up and get on with it.

May kept thinking but only made herself more wound up. That was until she felt hands wrap around her legs and along her back. When she opened her eyes May saw Ash kneeling down, arms around her. He then stood up carrying May in what was basically the bridal position.

"Pikachu I need you to find the quickest way back to the path." Ash instructed his starter who darted off in the forest.

"Ash wh-why are you carrying me?" May asked not expecting this in the slightest.

"You can't walk so this is the only way I can get you to safety, I know you had your mind set on getting to the next town but I'm not going to put your modelling career over your safety, sorry." Ash told her as he walked after Pikachu through the scrub.

"Ash I don't need your to carry me." May tried to persuade him.

"Not with that leg injury." Ash said without looking at her.

"My knee is getting better, I'm telling you I'll be able to walk soon enough." May continued.

"I'm not talking about your knee." Ash snapped. "The cut on your thigh, it was deep, I don't know for sure but I think you've lost a lot of blood. If you put too much pressure on it the wound won't close up and I don't have any bandages left so if you start bleeding through that limited amount of covering I've got on it-." Ash stopped his sentence not sure what would happen, but May knew what he was getting at.

"I'm carrying you so that doesn't happen, it's mostly downhill from here as long as I can keep walking you'll be alright." Ash reassured her.

At that point May gave in, there was no chance she would make it to the next town on time, she'd have to figure out a way to get to her objection some other way. She thought about getting out her sixth Pokémon who would have been able to transport both of them but thought better of it, right now she needed to keep Ash's trust. Pikachu came back through the undergrowth and pointed Ash in the direction of the path.

"Thanks buddy, now I want you to scout the path ahead but not by too much, in case we run into trouble I'll need your help." Ash told Pikachu who nodded and ran ahead just out of sight.

Ash had little trouble holding May but he knew that even as light as she was he couldn't hold her up for extended periods, he pushed through his discomfort though. The thought of what might happen if he stopped for too long driving him on. May did her best to help by wrapping her hands around Ash's shoulders however she was now starting to feel light headed, her adrenaline was dying down and her blood lose was becoming more apparent to her as Ash walked her back down the mountain path.

Ash's walk lagged on and on, he prayed that someone would come along the path but no one did. What made it worse was that neither he nor May had said anything since Ash sent Pikachu forward, he didn't mean to snap at her but she had to know what was at stack.

"May I need a breather." Ash huffed as he walked under the shade of a tree and laid her down. Ash got out his water bottle and gulped down as much as he could while letting his aching muscles rest for a bit.

"You should drink as much water as you can May." Ash told her. May nodded and drank her own water while Ash laid down beside her taking in deep breaths.

"I don't seem to remember our adventures leading to this much grief." May spoke up.

"We had a few close calls, but you're right we made it through our entire time in Hoenn and the Battle Frontier without any serious injuries." Ash reflected.

"I know what you mean, remember that incident with Rayquaza and Deoxys?" May recalled the battle between two other powerful legendries.

"I do, I also remember that photo they took of you when we arrived in the city and made it your passport." Ash chucked.

"What? I can't believe you still remember that." May looked down at Ash nearly shocked.

"How can I forget, it was a killer photo." Ash laughed.

"I'm glad I got better in front of the camera now." May lightened up.

"Yeah that's right." Ash said as he got up and readied himself to pick May back up.

"So what got you into modelling in the first place?" Ash asked as he hauled May back up and got walking again.

"Well I was offered to do a shoot while I was a coordinating around when I was seventeen. As I said it's not full time but I do try and have fun with it." May explained.

"So why did you stop coordinating?" Ash asked a bit hesitantly.

"I've been getting into conservation, I want to preserve what's left of this regions ecosystem and though coordinating gets me good coverage I found that the modelling pays better." May revealed.

"That's really a great thing you're doing May, sometimes I wish I could get more involved with Pokémon in the wild but with my job and everything." Ash trailed off his mind somewhere else.

"You miss her don't you?" May asked.

"Serena? Yeah I do but when I look back we had drifted apart a lot. So much so that I don't feel any different without her around, I saw her so little that we might as well of not been together at all." Ash clarified.

May remained silent not sure if Ash was still grieving or had moved on, only reflecting on Serena when she was brought up. She didn't know why but she felt more content with the second option, again her childhood feelings came back at her and she recoiled at the thought. She concluded that it had to be she was literally in his arms right now and the fact that he was putting his body through so much grief for her. For whatever reason May though the best way to get it out of her head was to bring up another girl.

"Was there anyone else for you, like Dawn?" May came out of the blue.

"Dawn? Um I mean I know she had a crush on me at some point but even so she's only seventeen that would be a bit weird don't you think?

"Well I'm eighteen would it be weird to date an eighteen year old?" May questioned.

"No I don't think so." Ash responded.

"Well why does one year make a difference?" May raised one eyebrow.

"You know society I guess, and she's not legal either." Ash struggled to answer the question.

"So if Dawn was eighteen you would date her but since she's seventeen you wouldn't because she can't have sex with you?" May shot out.

Ash nearly tripped over his own feet at the question, this was the first time May had ever mentioned sex to him at all, and though he wasn't a stranger to the act it made him very uneasy.

"No that's not the reason come on May you know that." Ash spoke as he readjusted his footing. "I mean why are you asking me this anyway?"

"Just, no reason." May said as she turned away from the raven haired trainer.

"You've given me that answer a lot, can't you just tell me?" Ash asked quietly.

"No, just forget I said anything." May responded without looking at him.

Both of them fell silent, May mentally slapped herself for making the subject turn into what it had become. She turned her thoughts back to how she was going to get to her target on time. She would have to fly but with her present injuries she knew she wouldn't be able to do her job like normal. Her hope's now rested on how quickly Ash could get her to the Pokémon centre. It had a medical wing after all but how much good could they do in such a short amount of time?

By now they had been walking for more than two hours and Ash had been taking more and more regular breaks. As he placed May down another time and caught his breath he checked May's leg again. When he saw a patch of red beginning to form in the centre he got worried, perhaps in the rush to wrap up the wound he had done it incorrectly. Ash didn't take any more time to recover, he grabbed May again and with more effort lifted her up and started walking.

"Ash you should rest longer." May told him.

"I don't want to take any chances." Ash said back.

May peered down at her leg and could just see some red beginning to form. "Ash if you don't rest you won't have any strength to keep going." May tried to sway him.

"It's alright I think we're almost there." Ash said while taking deep breaths.

May didn't know if Ash was just trying to set her mind at ease, if he actually knew where he was or having wishful thinking. Pikachu came up to check on them as he had done a number of times though he looked more down every time he saw them.

"Pikachu are we close to the Pokémon Centre?" May asked the electric mouse.

Pikachu looked back up the path before turning back and nodded, perhaps Ash did know where he was going.

Ash kept walking but May could feel his strength start to wane. His steps were longer and slower, his grip was loosening and she could feel him start to shake.

"Ash you have to stop." May said sternly. "If you insist on helping then let me walk on one leg while you support me."

Ash stopped walking and while taking in deep breaths considered May's offer. His arms and hands were completely numb, his shoulders felt like they were about to rip out of the sockets and his legs felt like they were full of wet sand. If he kept carrying May he would collapse and then who would help her?

"Alright you win." Ash gave in lowering May's feet to the ground.

May placed one arm on Ash's shoulder while Ash placed his own hand around May's side with the support May hopped on her good foot and while Ash did his best to support her he was struggling to walk on his own. The two continued to move along at a slow pace one feeling exhausted because of her blood loss and the other barely able to stand from carrying her. Never the less they pushed on until Pikachu ran up to them pointing up the path indicating they were very close.

"Ok buddy I need you to go to the centre and get Nurse Joy or anyone that's there, make them come outside and see us you got it." Ash said through stalled breath.

Pikachu nodded and sprinted up the path determined not to let his trainer down now. Ash didn't stop walking as he looked down and to his shock saw May's bandages were nearly completely red, the blood now about to start escaping from the edges. Ash abruptly picked up his pace causing May to lose her footing and fall forward pulling Ash down with her. Both of them slammed into the ground on their arms, in the process May's knee twisted slightly but it was enough to send a brutal wave of pain up her leg.

May screamed as she rolled over and clutched her leg trying to suppress the agony but nothing she did eased it.

"May what's wrong?" Ash looked at her in a panic.

"My knee it hurts, dammit Arrr!" May wailed not even able to control her own voice.

Ash didn't waste any time, he scooped her back up into his arms and using every last ounce of his strength hauled her back up. The movement caused May to cry out some more, she threw her head back and bit her lip. Her squirming was making it hard for Ash to hold her but he couldn't afford to drop her, if her did not only would he hurt her even more but he wouldn't have the energy to pick her back up. Finally May pulled her head into Ash's chest and gripped his shirt, hissing out her pain through clenched teeth. Now on the verge of collapse Ash shuffled forward around a corner and saw the Pokémon centre. It was only a stone's throw away and it was the happiest sight that Ash had seen all day. His vision was getting blurry but he could make out Pikachu standing at the entrance pointing towards them. Seconds later Nurse Joy walked out and caught sight of them, nearly gasping she turned back to the centre.

"Chansey get a wheelchair out here now." Nurse Joy called her assistant.

She and Pikachu then started running towards Ash who still had May clinging to him in his arms. Ash couldn't stand any longer, as he fell to his knees he pulled his shoulders back to stop himself from peeling over. Upon hitting the ground May looked up at him, her eyes asking him if he was alright.

"It's fine May helps here, you're safe." Ash assured her as his own vision began to blur from exhaustion.

Nurse Joy and Pikachu got to them both looking concerned. "What happened to you two?" Nurse Joy asked recognising them as the couple that left this morning.

"Her leg, she's injured-please-take care of her." Ash forced out still clinging to May who had also failed to let go of her carrier.

Chansey appeared beside Nurse Joy with the wheelchair, while the nurse got behind May's shoulders Chansey supported her legs. Together they lifted May up and carefully placed her onto the wheelchair.

"Get her inside immediately." Nurse Joy instructed Chansey who spun May around and wheeled her away.

Ash watched Chansey pull her away though he felt a loss at not being able to help her Ash trusted that she was in good hands. Nurse Joy laid a hand down on his shoulder and knelt down to his level.

"Are you alright? You look absolutely exhausted." Nurse Joy told him.

"Please just help May." Ash asked his thoughts never concerning himself.

"Come on I'll take you to the centre and get you both fixed up." Joy said offering her hand.

Ash reached forward when he fell completely numb, the last thing he felt was his head hitting the ground and then complete darkness.

Hours later Ash woke up suddenly, looking around he saw that he was in some sort of medical room, Nurse Joy must have gotten him inside when he collapsed though he had no idea how much time had passed. As he tried to lift himself he felt every muscle in his body ache, carrying May had done its toll. Trying a second time Ash felt a hand on his shoulder, opening his eyes he saw Nurse Joy with some papers in one hand.

"Easy now you collapsed outside from exhaustion, don't do anything strenuous." The pink haired nurse instructed him.

"Alright, I'll be careful." Ash responded before Pikachu jumped in his lap and nuzzled up against him.

"Hey there buddy you alright?" Ash asked getting a happy nod from Pikachu.

"Nurse Joy where's May?" Ash asked his mind springing back to action.

"Your friend is in the room opposite us, she's on the mend but she lost a lot of blood so she needs plenty of rest now." Nurse Joy informed him.

"What about her knee, and her fingers were dislocated as well." Ash continued.

"Yes we did a full body inspection as is protocol. She had a badly twisted knee with pulled muscles which we have mended. Her fingers have been looked over and will have full movement in the next few days. Chansey has been using Heal Pulse to quicken the healing process on May's injuries, it works similar to how it works in a Pokémon battle, so well in fact that the large gash on her leg won't even leave a scare." Nurse Joy gave Ash the full report.

"So she's going to be alright?" Ash asked despite having listened very intently.

"Yes she just needs rest and time for her blood to resupply and she will have recovered fully. I will say this though." Nurse Joy straightened her papers. "You two were lucky to have made it here, if she kept losing blood it could have proven fatal, you are a great friend to have carried her like you did." Nurse Joy smiled.

"Thank you, is it alright if I see her?" Ash asked.

"You can see her through the window however you can't go inside the room." Nurse Joy instructed.

"That's fine I just want to see she's alright." Ash agreed.

Nurse Joy walked a very sore Ash outside and over to the room May was in. Looking inside Ash saw her sound asleep with a few pieces of medical equipment attached to her arm. She was in the hospital scrubs lying peacefully on the bed, Ash felt a wave of relief wash over him seeing her. Throughout the day he had thought time and time again that he could loss her if he didn't get help, seeing her alive with a steady heartbeat brought him nothing but happiness.

"Thank you so much for everything." Ash turned to Nurse Joy.

"Just doing my job you're welcome to take any room you like, May will have to stay under observation till at least tomorrow." The nurse informed Ash as Pikachu jumped on his shoulder.

"Thanks, by the way what time is it?" Ash asked.

"You got here at two pm and now its nine o'clock." Joy let him know.

"Man been asleep seven hours and I'm still tired, I think I'll take a room now if that's alright." Ash put on a smile.

"Coarse follow me." Joy gestured down the hall.

Ash followed Nurse Joy to the reception area, he knew May was in good hands and despite wanting to see her up close knew the best thing for both of them was to get some rest. After getting the key, walking to his room and falling flat on the bed Ash let out a deep sigh. Pikachu jumped up next to him and rubbed his arm.

"Everything worked out but still, May got hurt really bad Pikachu." Ash spoke quietly. "I don't know what I'm going to say to her to make up for what happened."

Pikachu's ears dropped slightly, reflecting the regret both he and his trainer were feeling about the outcome of the day. Even with the thought plaguing his mind Ash was soon asleep, his body needing its own time to recover.

Nurse Joy was walking past May's room to inspect the two injured Pokémon that she and Chansey were caring for in the centre. She took a quick look in the room to make sure her patient his still resting. Seeing no movement from May and the monitors all working she moved on to make her rounds.

If Nurse Joy had looked closer she may have noticed that the room seemed to have moved forward slightly, if she had she may have entered and discovered that the room was covered in a hologram that May had set up to cover her escape.

May had woken up several hours ago and knew the times when Chansey would check on her, she then planned how she would get out to complete her assigned mission in time before Chansey came back. She had Mismagius take a recording of her pretending to be asleep and then projected the recording into a hologram that looped over time. A similar tactic she used on the security cameras. Now that she was covered in the hospital and had located her clothes and equipment May had escaped through her window and vanished into the forest. When she was far enough away she released her mystery Pokémon.

"We are on a time limit so get flying to the target as fast as you can you hear me." May spoke sternly.

The powerful Pokémon merely huffed at her but May knew she had gotten through. As she got on the creatures back May still felt weak, most of her body hurt but she had to do this, if she failed now no one would respect her anymore, she wasn't about to let a bit of blood loss slow her down. As trainer and Pokémon accelerated into the air May found it hard not to blame Ash for everything.

**Now I'm no doctor so don't get to nit-picky went it comes to the injuries or May's healing, let's just say the medical world in Pokémon is very advanced. I'm having real trouble finishing the chapter I'm writing at the moment. Firstly because there is a particular scene that is 'complicated' to write (You'll know it when you see it.) Secondly is I've been going all out on my other story 'Becoming a Pokémon Master' what can I say writing big action filled battle's is quite fun. And before you ask No I'm not abandoning this story, I love it too much to leave it unfinished. Hopefully I'll be able to keep releasing one chapter a week but I'll have another update on the next chapter as well so until then please leave a comment, your words fuel my desire to write. **


	11. Priorities

Chapter 11: Priorities  
When May asked her Pokémon to fly fast it took the command very seriously, the speed at which it was moving forced May to pull her entire body close to its back as she held on. Even with the high speed, wind, her clothes and hair feeling like they were going to be blown off and the pain from her injuries May was able to keep herself from falling. It wasn't long until she felt an ascension followed by a dissension indicating they had flown over the mountains Ash and May had gotten to that day, it wouldn't be long before she at the targets location.

Her Pokémon knew where to fly which was a good thing as May couldn't navigate at this velocity, when she felt there speed drop she relaxed slightly, getting into the normal sitting position as the large creature descended into some low laying shrub. As it landed May hopped off its back and felt a sting of pain go through her knee when she landed, ignoring the pain May returned her Pokémon and set off. She didn't have to walk very far but her leg wasn't doing her any favours, she reached the small police station and knelt down to overview it.

May had to sneak in through the ventilation system like the last few times only now she carried some bad injuries that could both slow her down and increase her risk of being discovered. She needed something to distract the station if things went south.

"Glaceon come on out." May whispered as she released her beautiful ice type.

"Listen to this comm Glaceon, if you hear me signal you I want you to create a distraction for me, when I give you the all clear signal meet me two hundred meters to the rear of the station and make sure no one follows you." May told her loyal Pokémon.

"Gla-Gla" Glaceon nodded in response.

"And try to stay safe alright." May said in a slightly lighter tone.

May loved all her Pokémon equally but some for different reasons, Blaziken because he was her starter, Beautifly because she used her in contests the most. Though Glaceon had a special place in her heart, she had raised her since she was an egg and was immensely proud of how she had grown under her care. As she sent Glaceon off May focused back on her mission knowing she was both injured and on a time limit.

May moved around the back of the station leapt over the fence, and using the large garbage bins as support moved onto the roof. From there she moved into the ventilation shaft moving at a slower pace as not to agitate her injuries and to reduce any noise. Fortunately for May she didn't have to crawl very far, this did little to quell the pain in her knee every time she bent it so she repositioned herself on her side so she could slide along the system and keep her leg straight. Everything was going fine until May rounded a corner and tapped her knee against the wall, this brief bit of contact would have been nothing to her normal knee but to her wounded one it was like being hit by a hammer. May flicked her head back and hit it against the shafts wall creating a loud thud. May bite her lip and took deep breaths luckily not making any cries of agony. It was then she heard some voices from outside the vent in the room below.

"Officer did you hear that?" May heard a male voice speak.

"Indeed, I think it came from the ventilation system." May heard a women who she recognised as Officer Jenny.

"Maybe a Zubat or Taillow got stuck up there, get one of the Growlithe and go take a look." Jenny addressed the male officer.

"This was bad news, they may not have expected her but if the Growlithe or the officers found her it would all be over, May got on her comm and signalled Glaceon.

"Glaceon now's the time for that distraction." May whispered and then waited. It wasn't long until May heard what had to be the result of Glaceon's work.

"Woah the whole front window is covered in ice." Another voice sounded from front of the station.

"Ice? What do you mean?" Jenny questioned before walking to investigate.

"Careful some of the floor looks frozen as well." That was all May needed, she moved quicker to her destination ignoring any pain as best she could.

When she finally got the computer room May got out and found the best hiding spot, there were no cameras that could see her so all she had to do was hack in an listen for anyone coming in but by the sounds outside it seemed everyone was distracted.

"I don't think it's an attack some kid might be playing a trick with an ice type, either way get the Growlithe out there and melt that ice." May heard Officer Jenny giving orders.

May was getting inpatient with the load time of the virus knowing that Glaceon would soon be up against a number of fire types if she didn't hurry up. As the upload completed and May got back into the vent see signalled for Glaceon to fall back.

"Alright Glaceon create a big pillar of ice to keep them distracted and then get moving." May then hung up knowing that Glaceon couldn't operate a microphone.

Pulling herself through the vents May could hear the commotion outside and confident that no one would get suspicious sacrificed some noise for more speed. As she got out in the night air May could see the large pillar of ice Glaceon had formed that was nearly as tall as the station, the Growlithe then started using Flamethrower to melt it and May made her escape.

She stepped onto the bins and then onto the concrete, without wasting any time she scaled the perimeter fence and crouch walked away from the station the occasional bark and shout the only thing causing her to look back. When she reached her fall back point she signalled for Glaceon to come out. The ice type walked towards her through the grass with the microphone in her mouth, May grabbed the piece of equipment and recalled Glaceon. All that movement was beginning to make May feel faint but she pushed on moving to a location where she couldn't be seen releasing her sixth Pokémon. As she did May sluggishly moved onto its back.

"Back to the Pokémon centre and move quickly." She told it.

As they both ascended into the air May fought to keep awake, being in a seated position and being as tired as she was the wind and speed did little to keep her from dozing off. May fought through it though if she didn't then she would have fallen straight to the ground. When they arrived back May returned her Pokémon without a word and walked back to her room's window. She moved back in and realized she had a single minute before she was due to be checked on.

"Mismagius come out." May called out.

The ghost type appeared out of the darkness, May had left her to keep watch it case the hologram stopped working. May walked over at shut off the device, she then got into bed and returned Mismagius. No sooner did she have the room looking like she had never left she heard the door open. May shut her eyes and waited. Chansey entered and went through her checklist barely making a sound, May listened intently in case the Pokémon reacted to something but the nurse didn't see anything out of order and left as quietly as she had entered.

"What a day." May huffed recalling all the events up until now, at the very least she had completed her mission and no doubt when she informed HQ how she had done it with injuries that someone would be impressed. There was also Ash to deal with, her tiredness caught up to her and May was soon sound asleep for the little hours of the night that were left.

Ash got up after a full night's sleep, his muscles were still sore but it wouldn't be anything that would severely slow day his day. Looking at the time Ash saw it was midmorning he hoped May was still resting, when he had gotten dressed Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder and the two walked out to check on their travelling partner.

As he walked past the reception area Ash could hear Nurse Joy talking to someone, there had been no other guests at either of the times he and May had been here so Ash wondered if another trainer had dropped in. As he rounded the corner he saw it was May that Nurse Joy was talking to. May had her normal clothes on again minus one glove as that hand had bandages over her two damaged fingers, she also had dressings around her knee and upper leg but she appeared to be walking fine.

"I must insist that you stay here and rest just for another day." Nurse Joy explained as she walked beside May.

"I just want my own room and some privacy then I'll rest all day." May assured her.

"Very well but I want to do one final check later today." Joy stated.

"That's fine with me." May somewhat reluctantly agreed. "But I'd like a room upstairs."

Before Nurse Joy could respond Ash called to May from the down the hall, "May!" he exclaimed as the jogged up to her.

"You feeling better?" Ash asked when he got up to the brunette.

"Yeah I'm a lot better." May responded.

"Don't worry about getting another room you can take mine if you want a rest." Ash offered.

"Ash I really just want my own room so don't make a fuss." May said as she walked past him.

"Sorry, I just thought it would be easier for you is all." Ash stated before following May to the front counter.

"You have the first room on the second floor, I'll be up to check on you later." Nurse Joy told May as she handed her the keys.

May thanked the nurse and walked to the stairs with Ash trailing behind her. Ash didn't say a word sensing May's unease, when she got to her room May unlocked the door without even looking at him.

"Do you want me to get you anything?" Ash asked.

"I'm fine." May simply replied.

"I can move to the room beside yours if you'd like?" Ash purposed.

"Do whatever you want I'm going to sleep." May said before she entered her room and closed the door without another word.

Ash and Pikachu both stood in the hall for a few seconds, May was acting very out of character. This wasn't something as simple like she was tired. It was obvious that May was very agitated about something but Ash couldn't figure out what, and he feared it had something to do with him. Pikachu pulled on his jeans with a worried look on his face showing he was as concerned about May as Ash was.

"Come on buddy we'll let May get some rest and talk to her later." Ash assured Pikachu as he placed the electric type on his shoulder.

Inside her new room May waited till she heard Ash walk downstairs and then decided to send her report. The good thing about working alone was she could leave out anything that would make her look bad such as nearly being discovered last night. She made sure to include the fact that she was injured at the time.

Once May had finished typing up the report she sent it off to HQ and then looked around her bag. She was looking for some new injections that New Magma had been testing in the field, she didn't know the science behind it but it was supposed to enhance the bodies healing abilities while at the same time eliminating any pain. May had been healed yesterday by Chansey and Nurse Joy but she needed to get better quicker, the only down side was that the injection caused the user to fall asleep within a few minutes. After administering the shot May laid down in her bed, when she woke up May knew she would most likely feel numb and hungry as the injection made the body work extra fast to quicken the healing process, this was no concern as she was in a safe place and her next mission didn't have to be completed for a while. As the drugs took effect May lent back and drifted off to sleep.

Ash walked down the stairs of the second floor May's behaviour plaguing his mind, as he walked towards the front desk Ash heard someone talking to Nurse Joy, obviously someone had just walked into the centre but Ash almost didn't believe his eyes when he saw who it was. The same rival he defeated a few days ago and had ended up punching in the face and threatening, Paul.

The Sinnoh trainer was handing over his Pokéballs to Nurse Joy who took them and walked to the back, Paul hadn't seen Ash yet and he intended to keep it that way.

Ash pulled his hat down over his eyes and tried to walk to the exit before Paul turned around and noticed him, Ash was willing to look past Paul's negative aspects but after hitting him in the face he doubted Paul would be a talkative mood.

"Ash is that you?" Paul's voice came from behind him.

"Dammit" Ash hissed knowing he had been spotted.

Ash turned around seeing Paul walk up to him "I thought it was you." Paul said coming to a halt a few meters in front of Ash.

"Hi there Paul." Ash uttered unsure how this meeting would go. The two stared at each other for what felt like hours, neither sure what was going through the others head, in the end it was Paul that averted his gaze and spoke first.

"I suppose now is as good of a time as any." Paul began. "Ash I'd-I guess I'd like to apologise for the other day."

"What?" Ash asked having not expected a straight up apology.

"The way I acted towards you both before and after the battle, wasn't professional or appropriate. And what I said I said to the girl you were travelling with, that was completely out of line, so I apologize fully and unconditionally." Paul said with his head dipped.

This was completely new to Ash. Paul was apologising and by the sound of it, fully understood his wrong doings. Ash had seen Paul acknowledge his shortcomings but never had he heard him be so apologetic, to say it stunned him was a major understatement.

"Um thanks Paul, but I should be apologizing too, I shouldn't have hit you either." Ash responded only now seeing the slight bruise on Paul's jaw.

"No you had every right to react the way you did, seeing you for some reason made me act the way I used to before that match we had in the Sinnoh League." Paul explained.

"After that day, the day where you finally beat me I tried to better myself, tried not be so agitated towards everything and everyone. I learnt a lot from Reggie who helped me get my life on track which is how I was able to beat the Battle Frontier. When you beat me three to zero, I don't know the old me just surfaced again, so yeah I understand why you acted the way you did." Paul finished telling Ash everything that had happened since the Lily of the Valley conference.

"That's quite something Paul." Ash stated remembering how he had thought Paul hadn't changed when he was battling him, though from what he had said it was clear Paul had made an effort to better himself.

"You know you have been the first real challenge I've had since I joined the Elite Four." Ash tried to lighten the mood.

"You don't have to try and cheer me up Ash." Paul assured him. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm not the stubborn jerk I used to be and to say sorry to you and that girl you were with."

"May, her names May." Ash corrected Paul.

"Right May, so where is she are you two still together?" Paul asked looking around.

"May's resting, we had an incident yesterday where she got injured so she's recovering." Ash explained.

"She alright?" Paul asked.

"Yeah she should be all better soon, if you'd like you can stick around and tell her when she wakes up." Ash offered.

"Believe me I would, but I have to move to the next town over as I have some business there, but if you could give her my regards I would appreciate it." Paul replied.

"Of course I can't have May thinking badly of you." Ash smiled slightly.

"Thanks Ash." Paul said as Nurse Joy called for Paul to pick up his Pokémon. Paul walked over and retrieved his Pokeballs thanked the nurse and then walked back over to Ash.

"I'll be seeing you, but next time why don't we have battle." Paul then put his hand forward.

"You can bet on it." Ash grinned as he shook Paul's hand.

Paul smiled as he shook hands with his old rival and then exited the centre to continue his journey. Ash for the first time felt confident with where Paul was going, he remembered how May had said about people changing though at the time she seemed to put it in a negative light, Paul had shown that change was not only possible but could indeed be for the better. It was then Ash realized he hadn't eaten in a long time, a fact that was amplified by his growling stomach.

"Well Pikachu I guess we better get something to eat and then I think it will be time for some training." He addressed the electric rodent. Pikachu fist pumped the air at the promise of food and the two of them raced to the dining area.


	12. Healing

Chapter 12: Healing

At midday Nurse Joy woke May up to check her condition and do some basic tests. May was still under the effects of the drugs she had taken and lazily went through the tedious tests and questions. Nurse Joy could tell May was a little irritated so did her best not to agitate her, after she had finished giving May the all clear she packed up and left to give the girl time to sleep some more. Exiting her room Nurse Joy was almost at the stairs when Ash came up in a hurry.

"Hi Nurse Joy, how is May?" Ash asked looking over the nurse's shoulder at May's door.

"She has recovered very well, but she is trying to get some sleep at the moment." Nurse Joy told the young man unsure if she should have warned him about May's unease.

"Well I'll just knock and if she's awake." Ash stated getting a nod from the Nurse.

May herself was indeed not in a good mood, she had been randomly awoken, tired the entire time Nurse Joy was there and now that she had left May had lost almost all her ability to fall back to sleep. The coordinator grabbed a pillow and pressed it firmly against the side of her head in frustration when there was a knock at the door. May could so easily have thrown a fit at that point but had enough control left to compose herself and sit up before answering the knock.

"Did you forget something Nurse Joy?" May asked as she slid out of bed.

"No it's Ash." Ash's voice came from the other side of the door.

This May did not have the patience for, for nearly every moment that she was awake since last night May had been blaming Ash for what had happened to her and now having him disturb like this had her on the verge of losing it.

"Ash now is not a good time." May nearly growled placing one hand over her forehead.

"Sorry I just wanted to check you were all right." Ash cautiously responded easily able to hear the aggression in May's voice.

"I'm fine just give me some room to breathe jeez." May barked turning back towards her bed.

"Did you-want me to get you anything." Ash asked wearily.

"Would you take a hint? Just piss off!" May screamed before she picked up a small box and threw it at the door making Ash jump at the impact.

The Kanto trainer stood outside the door with Pikachu beside him completely speechless. May had never acted so angrily towards him before, he had never even heard her swear. Pikachu walked forward and raised one paw.

"Pika?" The electric mouse seemed to ask as he tapped the door, May's behaviour was so out of character it had the small Pokémon utterly confused. Ash leant over and carefully picked Pikachu up placing him on his shoulder.

"Come on Pikachu, were going to train." Ash whispered so he didn't disturb May. He could tell Pikachu was very upset at the girl's outburst as was he. Ash didn't let it show, though internally he hoped that he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time for May to act like that, but in truth he doubted that was accurate. All he could do was walk away and hope that whatever had come over May was only temporary.

May threw herself into bed and let out a deep sigh, she would deal with Ash later. He had caused her so much trouble and yet she had no choice but to stick with him, this whole mission was getting worse by the day. She did her best to push her concerns away eventually able to fall back to sleep although not a very peaceful one.

May woke up in a hunger fuelled daze, Nurse Joy had checked on her around midday when the drugs were still in effect but she had remained awake long enough for Joy not to get suspicious. Looking outside May could see that the sun had almost set, but she was more concerned about getting some food.

May got out of bed not even bothering to change and made her way down stairs, she could barely feel any discomfort in her body not even in her knee which was arguably the most damaged. Happy with how the drugs worked May got to the dining area and ordered a very large dinner, the expression on Chansey's face as she took the order indicated that it was a lot but May didn't care, she was starving.

While she waited May took a booth seat by the window when she saw a lightning bolt come from the back training field. Turning to see what was happening May saw Pikachu firing attacks at Ash's Charizard who flew in the air. May looked around for Ash, she eventually caught sight of him directing his other Pokémon, by the looks of it he had all six of his on hand Pokémon out and training. She watched him coordinate each of them without missing a beat, calling out one move and signalling for another to counter in a seemingly effortless display.

May was so drawn into watching Ash train she didn't notice Nurse Joy walk up with her plates until she laid them down on the table.

May thanked Joy before digging into her various meals though she didn't shovel it down like Ash would have.

"Your friend Ash has been very concerned for you while you slept." Nurse Joy told May making her halt her eating.

"Really?" May asked.

"Yes ever since this morning he came in on the hour asking if you had come out, I felt so bad having to tell him time and time again that you were still resting. Apart from that he's been training none stop just to keep his mind off of you." Nurse Joy explained as she looked out to where Ash was training.

"Yeah that does sound like him." May looked back outside.

"I've seen many people come and go from this centre. With both injured Pokémon and people, but never have I seen someone push themselves to the brink of collapse to get their friend to safety." Nurse Joy said without looking at May.

"That kind of effort doesn't merely speak about his physical capabilities but his determination. His ability to push himself further, even when his body screams for him to stop, even then his spirit didn't give in. That is true friendship, putting others above your own self." Nurse Joy concluded.

May listened intently as Nurse Joy talked, since last night she had been blaming Ash for what had happened. After all it was his decision to take a detour to Lake May which lead them on that other path and finally where the they got attacked by the Aggron causing her to be injured. Deep down though she knew that wasn't right. Ash could never have known what laid ahead on that mountain, both he and May were trying to help that young Aron when its mother overreacted. Ash had put himself between her and its attacks to defend her, hid her and pulled her up from a cliff to save her and then carried her in his arms till he collapsed. And she had repaid him by shouting at him and slamming the door in his face. A feeling of ignorance washed over her, she had been so blinded because Team Magma saw Ash as a threat that she saw him as one as well. But Ash was still her friend, still willing to put her safety above his own, May felt awful for how she had treated him.

"You're really lucky to be able to call him your friend." Nurse Joy said as she turned back to May.

"Your right, I really am." May acknowledged.

"Anyway enjoy your meal." Joy smiled before walking off.

May went back to eating her order while watching Ash train, she didn't eat as fast now, the thoughts in her head had her conflicted. She didn't know how she could apologize to Ash without risking getting to close to him, but she couldn't just keep acting distant or he would eventually ask what was wrong. May wasn't backing down on her loyalty to New Magma, completing her mission came first but where did her loyalties to her friends fit into it?

The coordinator was so deep in thought she didn't notice that Ash had finished his training and had walked back into the centre. Out of the corner of her eye May saw Ash walk past the front desk without even seeing her. May got up having only half finished her order and followed him, for whatever reason she choose to stay hidden. She followed him just out of sight as he walked upstairs and then stopped in front of May's room. The brunette watched as Ash went to knock on her door but stopped before he made contact, seeming to be questioning if disturbing her was the right move as he didn't know that she had left.

Eventually Ash sighed and then walked into the room next to May's, obviously he had moved to that new room so he could be closer to her. May remembered that the two rooms were actually linked together by a single door that had to be unlocked on both sides. When Ash closed his door May wondered if she should wait before seeing him again, in the end she opted to go into her own room. The Hoenn local figured that if she simply talked to Ash through the door between the rooms she could apologise for her behaviour and then hopefully redeem herself, after all she remembered having arguments with Ash a couple of times throughout their time together and they always worked it out.

May was about to knock on the door when she heard the faint sound of a shower coming from Ash's room. It made sense after all Nurse Joy did say he'd been training all day. May didn't want to sit around and wait so she gathered a change of clothes and went to have her own shower.

After the events of the yesterday and sleeping all day the feeling of warm water over her body was blissful and May took her time to soak it all in. When she got out and dressed herself May found that she spent extra time on her appearance, something she hadn't done much of since she joined New Magma. May didn't know why she felt the sudden need to look her best but something about seeing Ash tonight made her slightly nervous but why? They were only friends and it wasn't like she hadn't seen him in a while and all she wanted to do was apologize. May shook the thoughts out of her head she was thinking too hard about all of it. As she looked herself over in the mirror she smiled, she looked and felt a lot better, surely there was nothing to worry about.

May walked out of the bathroom noting that the sun was now below the horizon and before knocking listened to see if Ash was doing anything. She couldn't hear a sound and while hoping he hadn't fallen asleep knocked three times.

May only had to wait a few seconds before the door opened and Ash stood there in his usual attire minus his hat and shoes looking at her.

"May –um how-how are you?" Ash asked a little unsure of how to start.

"I'm good Ash how are you?" May responded sounding as uncertain as he did.

"I'm good just had my shower and put Pikachu to bed." Ash said pointing back into his room.

"Yeah I was just coming to check on you." May smiled as she pulled on her bandana.

"I was going to check on you as well, apparently Nurse Joy said you can take of your bandages whenever you're ready." Ash informed her.

"Yes that's right I guess I just forgot." May responded looking at her hand.

"Alright I'll leave you to it I'm just glad your all good." Ash said before he started to close the door.

"Wait Ash." May exclaimed as she held the door in place. "If you'd like you can come in and um-"

"I'd love to." Ash replied kindly. May smiled deeply letting Ash walk past her before she shut the door, leaving just the two of them together.

**Ohhhh cliff hanger much! Important information is that if I theoretically split this story into two acts, then the next chapter would be the end of Act I. Act II is where everything starts to take off so to speak. I might get some heat for what's in the next chapter but I planned on the story going in this direction from the start. There's no stopping this train now! **


	13. The Trainer and the Coordinator

**Lemon Warning! You'll know it when you get to it…**

Chapter 13: The Trainer and the Coordinator

Ash pulled up the desk chair and faced it towards May who sat on the bed, May then tried to unravel the bandages over her two fingers but was having trouble finding the end of it.

"Here let me." Ash offered as he moved his chair forward along with a small bin.

Ash placed May's hand into his palm and with the other began slowly unravelling the bandage. May didn't really know how to react, she knew Ash was being kind but as more of her skin touched his own May felt a strange yet exciting sensation rise in her. She had never felt this before with Ash or anyone for that matter.

Ash finished removing the bandages and then held May's wrist up. "Make a fist to see if you have any pain." He told the brunette.

May did as instructed and clenched her fingers into a fist, she felt no pain but knew that was most likely because of the drugs she took.

"No pain." She declared.

"Wow that's pretty good I would of thought it'd take longer than that to heal up." Ash exclaimed.

May shrugged her shoulders and Ash lifted her leg up and placed it on his knees. Before May could react Ash was untying the bandages around her knee. May didn't ask Ash to do this as she was more than capable of removing them herself but she didn't attempt to stop him or even speak, she found it oddly soothing the way Ash tentatively unravelled the bandages. This was really something that she hadn't seen in Ash very often, a nurturing side of him that put her at ease.

"Alright I'll just bend your leg so tell me if it gets uncomfortable ok." Ash stated getting a nod from May.

Ash slowly bent May's leg up till her leg was completely bent, May felt a trace of discomfort but nothing that she couldn't put up with. After informing Ash of this he smiled slightly and laid her leg back down over his knee. His next action May should have seen coming but it still caught her off guard slightly.

Ash pulled himself closer to May and started removing the last bandages near the top of the girl's thigh. May knew that she shouldn't have felt so odd about the situation and wondered if it was because she had someone so close to her or if it was because she had Ash so close to her. May tried to keep her attention on how Ash was removing her bandages noting that some of them were covered by her shorts.

"May I have to just fold back your pants a bit so I can get the last of the bandages." Ash told the brunette trying to sound as professional as possible.

"Yeah that's fine." May replied hints of nervousness rather plain in her voice.

Ash folded May's shorts in half way exposing the remainder of the bandages. May had never felt so exposed or edgy around Ash before even when she had been around him in bikinis and swimsuits before. She thought it had to be because he was the one folding back her clothing but there was more to it than that, his proximity, the way he held her leg, even the gentleness that he unwrapped her bandages seemed to unwind her.

Ash finished with the last bandage and tossed it in the bin with the rest. Ash then suddenly stroked his fingers along May's thigh. This had May almost stunned, she was about to voice her protest when Ash's action became clear.

"Nurse Joy was right, you don't even have a scare where that wound was, they do good work." Ash stated as he removed his hand.

"Yeah that's really good." May breathed a sigh of relief wondering why she even thought Ash would try and pull something like that. A fact that was strengthened when Ash carefully lifted May's leg up and set her foot next to her second then turned back to look at her.

"So how is the rest of you feeling?" Ash asked.

"I'm feeling a lot better." May answered while brushing some of her hair back.

"I'm sorry if I upset you this morning, I just was so thrilled to see you awake after what had happened." Ash's gaze moved to the ground the sorrow of nearly losing one of his closest friends still weighing on him.

"No Ash I should be apologising, after everything you did for me I was horrible to you, really horrible." May declared, her own regrets playing there part.

"I mean I-I didn't even say thank you." The brunette chocked up.

"It's alright I don't have to be thanked, that experience must have been pretty traumatic for you." Ash tried to comfort May who he could see was beginning to stress.

"No I'm not just talking about yesterday, I'm talking about all the times you've saved me." May uttered as she held one hand over her heart.

"What are you talking about?" Ash asked.

"Remember when we were in the Valley of Steel and I fell into that ravine with Torchic. I held onto a stray branch and it was you who came down and rescued me, I never thanked you for that." May said starting to get tearful.

"It wasn't just me, Brock, Max, Torkoal and even Pikachu helped you too." Ash replied with the only thing he could think of.

"Or the time I got trapped in the land of the grass Pokémon, you swung in on a damn vine to save me." May recalled the day she caught her Bulbasaur.

"I'm sure anyone would have done the same." Ash said as he lent towards May.

"Manaphy" May exclaimed as she locked eyes with Ash. "When the Sea Temple was sinking you placed Pikachu, Manaphy and I in that pod so we wouldn't drown and then you went off to save the temple. I know you nearly drowned that day Ash, you say that anyone would do the same but the fact is you're the only person I know who would do such a thing. Put others safety over your own, risk your life for the greater good and I never truly thanked you for everything you've given me." May told Ash, a single tear escaping from her eye.

Ash was slightly taken back, he had never been praised so much in his life. Ash of coarse was not the type of person who needed glorification he acted to situations because it was what he felt was right, plain and simple. Friends, family even foes, he would do his best to help all of them. He could understand why May would get worked up and want to apologise for all the times she didn't verbally thank him but he never wanted to see her cry over it. The trainer leant forward and placed both hands on her shoulders.

"May I never though less of you for any of those times, in fact I didn't even notice till now, the fact that you a making up for it now means the world to me." Ash told the brunette who shut her eyes feeling a wave of relief wash over her which sweep away her sorrow in the process.

"I just-wanted to thank you, and I'm so glad you're here." May forced out opening her eyes.

May's next action was done without thinking, because if she had of thought about it she might never have done it. The coordinator leant forward and kissed Ash on the cheek.

As soon as May realised what she had done she pulled back and stared at Ash with an alarmed expression on her face. Ash's face was in an even more staggered state then May's was, he clearly didn't expect it and seemed more alarmed then May was. May looked to her side for an escape but Ash's arms were still on her shoulders. Following May's line of sight Ash realised this as well, his initial reaction was to pull his hands back as quickly as possible but he only got a few inches off of May before he recoiled thinking he was acting to rashly. His awkward actions ended in him slowly lowering his hands back to his side, neither he nor May said a word.

May had no idea what came over her, it was as if when she saw Ash upon opening her eyes that the rational side leapt out the window and some other part of her moved in and kissed him. This was bad on so many levels that she didn't even want to try and count, she couldn't just talk her way out of this she had to separate herself from Ash right then and there.

"Well um-we better-uh." May stuttered as she got up and walked over to the door Ash had entered through.

"I think I need to get some rest now." May spoke as she opened the door and stood to the side of it not even meeting Ash's gaze.

Ash still sat in his chair with the same blank look on his face, when it finally hit him that May wanted him to leave his expression turned to one of confusion. He didn't know what May wanted, he didn't even know what to think. As he looked over to May he could tell that she too was having trouble making out what had just occurred. He almost subconsciously stood up from his chair and walked to the open door his mind not sure whether to speak up or just do what May asked him to do. Before he was even through the doorway May began to slowly close the door, not sure what would happen in the future just wanting to put an end to this, whatever 'this' was.

"May wait." Ash suddenly turned around holding the door back with one hand. "Just-hold on a second please." He nearly pleaded before disappearing into his room and rummaging through his bag.

May knew she should have shut the door, if she did then she could have tried to get her mind straight, not get any more involved. But she didn't, she couldn't crush Ash like that. Even though she knew she should shut the door and turn the lock, she didn't. Ash appeared in front of her holding something in his closed hand. He took a few deep breaths before opening up his fingers revealing what he had told May to wait for.

In his palm was half of a pink ribbon, the ribbon that they split after tying in their first contest together and their last day in Kanto, The Terracotta Ribbon. May's eyes widened at the sight of it, Ash had it on him the entire time and only now brought it out.

"Do you, still have your half?" Ash asked almost fearful of the answer.

May looked back up at Ash her blue eyes meeting his brown, she spun around and raced over to her bag nearly tearing it apart when she got to it. Ash watched as she dug through the various pockets before suddenly stopping. He watched as May stared into her bag before pulling out an item and holding it close to her chest. She walked back over to him, once again locking eyes before opening her own hand to reveal her own half of the ribbon, still as magnificent as the day it was split.

The two almost instinctively moved their half's towards each other to see the ribbon in its full glory once again. As the two portions connected Ash and May both felt as if they themselves had become one again, as if they had been apart that entire time since they left each other in Terracotta town and only now had they truly been reunited.

"I don't know why I always kept it with me but, it felt like there was a part of you with me whenever I saw it." Ash almost whispered before he and May's eyes connected once again. This time it was different, there was an unmistakable look of need in their eyes, a desire that had been lit, one that May could no longer hold back on.

Grabbing both pieces of the ribbon May set them down on the desk to her side. She then slid her arm past Ash grabbing the door handle and closed it. As she came back to her original position May looked up at Ash who seemed to know where this all was going but waited in case he made the wrong move. May didn't care that she had to initiate it she knew that this was what she wanted. Without wasting any more time May wrapped one arm onto Ash's side, placed her second hand behind his neck and pulled him into their first kiss.

A simultaneous fuse went off inside them as their lips touched, all the emotions they had experienced over the last few days seemed to draw them together. May had unwittingly set this whole event in motion from the moment she kissed Ash's cheek. The wait made it all the more enthralling as if they had waited years for this moment, in a way they had but their feeling had never been together at the same time. Now they were and May wanted to savour every moment of it.

Ash didn't even hesitate before returning the kiss, placing one hand at the base of May's back and the other between her shoulders, pulling their bodies closer together. He hadn't planned on this outcome when he entered May's room but having her in his arms felt so right. The strength in the embrace didn't stay light for long, as Ash gripped May's form tighter May intensified the force she put behind her kiss. This wasn't a simple few pecks on the lips. She was ramping up the energy and Ash gladly followed suit, though he didn't realize how forceful she was becoming till she grabbed both his sleeves and pushed him back against the wall. Ash grinned slightly at May's forcefulness and intensified his own kissing as well, probing his tongue forward almost teasing that he might go further. To add to this he started sliding his fingers along May's back at a deviously slow pace sending tingles up her spine. May shuddered slightly at his touch and arched her head back breaking the kiss. Ash saw his opportunity and drove his lips onto her neck, sucking on her skin. May's eyes widened at this new sensation, she never realised how sensitive her neck was, it was either that or Ash was an expert in the field.

Now that she wasn't concentrating on grabbing or making out with Ash May unzipped the trainers jacket and then pulled it off his shoulders forcing him to remove his hands from her back so she could take it all the way off. As soon as his hands were free Ash placed one behind May's shoulders and the other behind her head before connecting the two with a much more powerful kiss that pushed May's upper body backwards only supported by Ash's hands. May's own hand grasped the side of Ash's face as the two almost hungrily kissed each other. May's other hand slowly explored Ash's body, carefully slithering down his chest, over his abdominals and finishing down the side of his hip. She didn't want to venture any further, at least not let.

Instead she grabbed the front of Ash's shirt and while their lips were still locked pulled him backwards towards her bed. Ash could tell what she was doing and made no attempts to stop her. As May's legs hit the side of her bed she sat down dragging Ash with her. May lowered her back onto the bed her arms still grasping Ash's shirt, the young man supported himself with his elbows so he didn't collapse on top of her. May now had Ash where she wanted him, hovering over her and furiously making out with her. She didn't take the time to reflect on when exactly she had decided that this is what she wanted, the brunette was far too engrossed in what she was doing right now to reflect.

Without his jacket in the way May now grabbed the base of Ash's shirt and quickly pulled it up, but was once again blocked by Ash's arms. Pulling away from May Ash looked over the girl beneath him with an almost questioning look. He didn't question for too long as the look in May's eyes clearly signalled to him that this was what she wanted. Straightening his arms May pulled the shirt over his head revealing the body she was suddenly craving.

Ash took the next step and grabbed the base of May's shirt, it was harder to pull off as May was lying down but with a bit of assistance from the girl in question he was able to remove the item of clothing, tossing it to the side much like May had done with his own. She still had a bright red bra on but that didn't take away any of Ash's admiration for how stunning she was.

Once her shirt was off May pulled Ash back into another fiery kiss, missing his contact even after such a short time. May couldn't explain why she was being so bold and in some cases so forceful. She hadn't had intercourse in over eight months not long after she had turned eighteen. Was it that she had been keeping her sexual drive so supressed that it was bursting out the seams? Ash was the first person to show her any kind of affection since she started her training, but it wasn't just that. The way he held her, the way his fingers lit up her skin as he caressed her was lighting a fire deep within her. Could it simply be Ash that had this effect on her? Right now in that room she didn't care, they were in their own world right, one she never wanted to leave.

By now the two of them were practically mauling each other, their tongues nearly wrestling for dominance. May then went for Ash's belt, fiddling with it momentarily until she managed to undo it and pull it from Ash's jeans. May started to undo Ash's zipper when a hand suddenly stopped her. Ash pulled back as he held May's hand staring at her both admiring her beauty and gagging her reaction. May looked up at Ash taking in deep breaths, she wasn't sure why Ash stopped her. It appeared that he wanted to make sure that she was certain about going forward. Ash obviously had a bit more patience then she did because there was nothing more in the world that she wanted right now.

"Please?" May asked sensing Ash's uncertainty.

Ash gave her a small smile before he lifted himself up and stood in front of her. May watched as he undid his pants taking in as much as she could even with the dim light from the desk lap. May hadn't had a chance to properly examine Ash's physic apart from her brief inspection at the lake. With him here in front of her removing his pants May took in all she could. The way his arm muscles moved as he undid his button. How his abs tensed when he removed the jeans leaving him just in his underwear. He was no bodybuilder but he was very fit, and a whole lot better looking than she ever believed he could be. Ash bent down on one knee in front of May gliding his hands up her thigh and over her shorts, even through the thin bit of fabric May loved his touch. Ash paused as he reached the top of May's white skirt that joined her bike shorts or 'hot pants' as they were sometimes referred too, he looked up at her before he went any further.

"May I?" Ash enquired.

May giggled slightly at his precaution, she didn't care if he ripped her pants off and got straight back to where they left off, but that wasn't really Ash's style. May nodded giving him the go ahead.

Ash curled his fingers around both pieces of clothing and slowly pulled them down leaving May in her matching red underwear. May leant back expecting Ash to crawl on top of her, it surprised her when she felt Ash's breath on the inside of her right leg. What surprised her even more was when he laid a single kiss on the inside of her leg near her hip. That was a place she had never been kissed before and it made her flinch slightly at the contact. Ash then leant up and positioned himself over May with both hands by her sides.

"May are you sure you want to do this, are you sure you want to go on from here?" Ash asked, neither realising that he was the first to talk since they started.

"Ash, there's nothing I want more." May answered as she lightly stroked his arm for assurance.

Now knowing for certain Ash bent back down to his former position and removed May's panties. May kept her legs closed till Ash had pulled them all the way off her legs and once he had discarded them he gazed at her exposed womanhood. May couldn't help but feel slightly nervous with Ash examining a part of her body she had never shown him but she did trust him and that was all he asked for.

Wrapping one arm around her leg Ash moved two fingers to her slit and ever so slowly parted her folds causing May to throw her head back against the mattress and grip the sheets. It had been so long since she had had any pleasurable contact down there that it was as if she had forgotten how it felt. Ash's mimicked the same move but this time with his tongue and then started to lap her lower lips making the girl's body tighten at the action trying desperately to hold in any moans or gasps.

Ash didn't want her to stay silent and so he plunged his tongue deep inside of her now getting a brilliant taste of her.

A single shrill gasp escaped May's mouth, she didn't bother to try and suppress them any longer. She closed her eyes and enjoyed it as Ash began to eat her out making squeaks of joy whenever Ash hit a new part of her. Having unwound her Ash moved his spare hand and inserted one finger up to the second knuckle and just to add to the sensation he moved his mouth to May's clit and circled the bundle of nerves with his tongue. May was suddenly engulfed in pure ecstasy, clutching the side of the bed as if for dear life and arching her back, her body not ready as Ash kicked it up a gear.

"Yes, gah-oh Ash!" May squealed as Ash pumped his finger in and out of her while also holding her leg stopping her from squirming out of control.

Any trace of May trying to restrain herself was gone as gasps, shrieks and cries of joy escaped her. She hooked one leg around Ash's back trying to force him to go deeper or harder or anything just to keep making her squirm. Ash could easily tell she wanted more and answered her call by inserting a second finger and putting his whole mouth over her clit and began sucking furiously.

May completely broke down at that point, letting out a loud cry of bliss as she nearly tore off the bed sheets.

"Arrr god that feels so good! Mmm yes!" May yelped out as Ash's two fingers went faster and faster his technique driving her up the wall. She could already feel her insides curling up in preparation for a release. No, she couldn't climax yet she wanted to feel him inside of her first, have them be connected for that moment.

"Ash I-Arr-please you have too-Ohh!" It was proving difficult talk let alone stop Ash. "I want you now!" She cried out finally breaking through.

Ash halted his actions, smiled slightly, he removed his mouth and fingers and left one final kiss on May's leg before peering up at her.

"If you insist." He said slyly.

May's head fell back on the mattress taking in deep breaths as she recovered, as well as mentally prepare herself for what was to come. Ash appeared over the top of her and pressed his lips against her own. As she returned the embrace May noted a very different taste that came with Ash, it didn't take long for the young coordinator to realize it was her own. What surprised her more was that she didn't mind it, and Ash certainly seemed to enjoy it.

Ash moved his hands to May's back and fiddled with her bra, thankfully it didn't take him long to remove. Upon removing the last bit of clothing May pulled Ash's body in closer feeling her bare breasts against his chest adding more wonderful stimulation. Her focus was completely taken off this when she felt what could only be Ash's member stroking against her inner leg. Ash had obviously removed his underwear before he kissed her and now was positioning himself on top of the bed. He tediously began parting her folds with the tip like he did at the start with his fingers, teasing her with the prospect that he might enter but pulling away just before he did.

May could tell he was testing her, to try and make her break. She did her best to try and move her hips so he would penetrate but her impatience was getting the best of her, she broke the kiss he had her in and looked him in the eye.

"Ash-" Before May could even begin Ash latched onto her neck again, kissing and sucking she couldn't take much longer.

"Please I need it." She managed to force out.

"Need what?" He teased.

"I need you inside of."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes Dammit."

"Positive?"

"Ash stop teasing and fuck me!" May practically screamed, her whole body about to burst if she waited any longer.

Ash was done provoking her he positioned himself and pushed in, finally making them one. May moaned into Ash's shoulder as he pushed more and more of his length into her, she hadn't gotten a chance to see Ash's member but even with the little he had used she could tell he had no issue with size.

Ash at this point knew May was not a virgin, which didn't entirely surprise him, with a body like hers she could have any man she wanted. But it was obvious she didn't just sleep around as she was incredibly tight, her walls squeezed down on him making every movement feel outstanding. He kept pressing into her until he had about two thirds of his total length in, not wanting to give her everything just yet.

"Come on." May said as she gripped Ash's shoulders yearning for more of him.

Ash retracted and then moved back in before starting at a slow pace. The feeling of Ash now moving inside of May had the both of them completely engulfed in pleasure. Ash was finding it very hard to control his speed as well as resist putting his full length in. He was also still sucking on May's neck which he felt sure would give her a hicky. May didn't have the patience Ash did she wanted more and that seemed to be the only word she could put together each time Ash penetrated her.

Abandoning his exploration of May's neck Ash turned his attention to increasing the speed of his thrusts. The result was immediate, May made a small yelp every time he pumped in, he capitalised on this by giving her another inch.

May dug her fingers into Ash's back and wrapped both her legs around his waist trying to pull him deeper but Ash had been playing this game since the moment she pulled him onto the bed. Slowly giving her more and more, making every advancement that much more pleasurable. But May was done going slow, when Ash did anything he did it to his full potential and she wanted to see that now. She placed both hands to either side of his face and looked him directly in the eyes.

"Ash I want you to give me everything you've got I don't just want this I need this." May practically pleaded.

Ash could truly see the desire in her eyes at that point and couldn't deny her any longer. He thrush was entire dick into her hard and fast causing her to nearly scream out in pleasure. Ash pulled himself up now supported by his arms so he could increase his pace to the one May was asking for. He pounded into her making the brunette wail with each thrush. Ash looked over her naked body. Her long legs that still curled around him, that flat and curved stomach, beautiful full breasts which bounced the harder he rammed her, and her eyes. Those sapphire blue eyes that in the heat of the moment seemed to stare right into his soul, they completed the flawless idol that was beneath him.

May was overwhelmed by the sheer joy Ash was delivering to her. He was going deeper and stretching her more then she had ever been before. Now she was getting what she had asked for and so much more, Ash had gone straight into sixth gear and was now giving her a constant fast ramming, she had to force herself not to squeal in case somebody heard her. She didn't think there was anyone else staying here but she didn't want someone knocking on the door when they were right in the middle of having sex, if not the best sex of her life. She rocked her hips in time with Ash's thrusts getting the first groan of satisfaction to come out of the trainer. Ash was also blessed with amazing stamina even with May's tight snatch gripping him like crazy.

Ash then decided to step it up even more, he grabbed May's hip placed his feet on the ground and pulled her to the edge of the bed. While still pounding her Ash lifted May's legs up keeping her back straight so that only her upper back and head remained on the bed. This way he had full control and had her level with his crotch, this odd position allowed Ash to intensify his ramming movements and the results showed.

"Yes just like that-Arr-It feels so good, I'll so close please don't stop, please don't stop." May begged.

May never thought that she could be so easily reduced to whimpers, even less so by Ash. But the trainer from Pallet Town was proving to be far more than she ever thought. She could feel her release coming in just a few more seconds, May only hoped she could contain herself.

Ash has also reaching his limits, his muscles were reminding him that they were still sore from yesterday's ordeal but he would be dammed if he couldn't hold out just a little longer. May couldn't hold out any longer as her climax hit her she brought her hands over her mouth to muffle the scream that escaped her as her entire body tensed, her back arched and her walls clamped down on Ash. If the man in question had of kept going for one more second he too would have climaxed but at the last second Ash managed to pull out while May cried out in her hands.

May took her hands away and stared up at the ceiling, her lips fixed in a wide smile. She couldn't remember being this happy in a long time, she felt Ash place her legs back down as she looked up she saw him move to her right and collapse on the bed, completely fatigued. Ash was facing her as he took in deep breaths, his body covered in sweat and the same smile on his face that May had.

"Hey there," Ash wheezed.

May giggled lightly, it appeared that he had used everything in the tank for her as his breathing and static state seemed to suggest. His hard on however refused to die down, May had a feeling that Ash didn't finish and since he probably couldn't continue May decided to step up to the plate. She lightly pushed Ash down so he lay on his back, as she moved herself over him May noticed Ash was giving her a slightly puzzled look. She smiled almost seductively before leaning down so her lips nearly caressed his ear.

"It's my turn now." She whispered in a voice that made the young man shiver.

What made him truly quiver was when May sat down on his legs and grabbed his still rock hard rod. Although she had felt its size and girth first hand seeing it was almost a kind of confirmation for May. Ash was indeed quite well endowed, she lightly stroked it and then turned her focus to Ash's now more relaxed face. It was clear that even this soft bit of contact was stirring him up but she could tell when he looked at her through half shut eyes that he wanted more. As she herself had asked for more and more during their last round May thought it was only fair.

She placed her knees to either side of Ash and then positioned his erection at her entrance. As she slid down Ash let out a deep groan of satisfaction, as May's tightness engulfed him. May didn't realise that it would be harder for her to take Ash in completely, he wasn't using any force and her legs were now closer together which had her struggling to go down all the way. As she finally sheathed him she let out a sharp breath of air that she didn't realise she had been holding. Ash lifted one hand up to her face and brushed back some of the hair that had escaped her bandana from her cheek, May peered down at his grinning face and couldn't help but smile right back at him. She leant into his soft hand for a moment of reassurance and then started to move.

She began gripping her hips slowly her eye lids fluttering as a whole new yet equally thrilling sensation took over her from having his entire cock fill her while she moved back and forth. May took the time to appreciate being in control of both herself and Ash's meat, setting her own pace had her so transfixed that dribble even threatened to escape her lust filling expression.

Ash rode out the waves as May moved her hips on top of him, he let her grind on top of him happy to let her ride waves with him, he was happy just knowing that it was his dick that was causing her so much pleasure. As the looked up just in time to see May take off her bandana allowing the hair that she kept pulled back to flow to the side of her face.

'Holly shit she's beautiful.' Ash thought to himself, his eyes then diverted to her heaving bust that made all reminders of how exhausted he was seem to slip away.

Ash leant up from his prone position and before May could react pulled one of her breasts into his mouth and began licking the borders of the nipple. As May felt Ash's mouth over her breast she looked down in time to see his hand come up and mimic the actions his tongue was doing but with his finger, while his other hand supported her back. Now receiving three points of pleasure May was finding it hard to contain herself but what really pushed her over the edge was when Ash proceeded to enclose his entire mouth over her nipple and suck it.

May craned her head back and switched from grinding to bouncing. She moved her hips up and down his shaft causing Ash to groan, his mouth sending vibrations through her chest. Ash randomly thrust upwards at the same time May was coming down startling her so much that she practically fell forward pushing Ash back. But he refused to relinquish the hold he had on her body and so while still sucking her breast pulled her down with him. May landed on her elbows losing track of her movements which Ash instantly took over for her. His hand moved lower on her back so he could guide her hips as he pushed his own up drilling into her. May didn't even care that she wasn't in control anymore, Ash had taken over and was instantly driving her crazy again. Ash continued to pound her even as she tried to formulate a sentence, she didn't quite know what she was going to say, just something to express how phenomenal she felt.

"Ash…your…so…good!" May managed to get out between squeals that forced their way out of her throat every time Ash rammed into her nearly making her fly up upwards if it wasn't for his firm hand on her back.

Ash felt that all too familiar feeling deep inside him, fortunately he was still capable of speech even if May probably wasn't listening.

"May I'm close." He warned.

"So am I, do it." May responded to Ash's surprise.

"What?" Ash replied.

"I'm on the pill just do it." May told him as she motioned her own hips pushing both of them to the limits. He would have preferred not to risk it but the way her tightness came down on him only made him go faster. On the final leg he sprinted to the finish in a blindingly fast mess which had the coordinator on top of him nearly forget to breathe.

With on last motion Ash buried himself in May's moist canal erupting into her letting out a deep growl of all his pent up emotions one that was immediately joined by May's own cry of ecstasy. Her juices collided with Ash's making her buck her hips as all the air escaped her lungs from her quivering orgasm. May couldn't support herself any longer and collapsed on top of Ash's chest which rose and fell as the trainer took in deep breaths of both exhaustion and satisfaction.

Ash reluctantly slid out of May making the brunette moan at his departure, Ash then tenderly kissed her on the neck and rubbed her back, both of them needed the time to catch their breathe.

"You were incredible." May sighed, her face half buried in the pillow.

"Yeah, you I know I was." Ash spoke knowingly, the sense of wickedness all too apparent in his voice.

May didn't even know how to respond, she couldn't let him get away with that but for the first time she was all out of comebacks. She couldn't simply pretend like all her pleas and shouts were fake, Ash had her crying out for more and he knew it. May couldn't allow such brazenness go unchecked, she might have been exhausted but the competitive side of her had been ignited.

"You were great but it's not over yet." May whispered as she walked two fingers up his arm.

"Um what do you mean?" Ash asked. May's statement pulling him down from his high.

May smirked as she propped herself up with her elbow and looked Ash in the eye. Taking in his questioning look May then got up and sat on his legs making him appear even more confused.

"What don't tell me you've never gone twice in one night before?" May teased.

"No…" Ash replied the full realization not quite sinking in.

"Well that's a shame, I wonder if you can…keep up with me." May taunted as she traced two fingers along his slightly limp erection.

"It's alright Ash." May said as she leant down next to his ear. "I'll get you warmed up." May whispered seductively before pulling back and grasping his dick catching him unaware.

May stroked up and down his shaft feeling some life was still present even though it was still half placid. Ash was telling the truth when he said he had never had sex right after finishing, it had never even occurred to him. Could his body even go through that again? He wasn't sure but it sounded like May was challenging him. Indeed she was, however May hadn't thought it though completely, her own body was exhausted and in about half a dozen strokes she could feel him begin to harden. It wasn't a full erection but it was still faster than May had anticipated.

In truth May had only ever had a single orgasm in her life, so Ash had doubled her record in one go. It both unnerved and excited her at the same time thinking that Ash might be able to go at it again. Her hand job was rocky at best but it seemed to please Ash greatly as he lay flat against the bed his eyes closed and his face in a goofy smile. May decided to go a little further, as she lay Ash's dick down and then lightly sat on top of it sliding it up and down her folds so that she could get a bit of stimulation on her clit as well.

The reaction from Ash was immediate, he opened his eyes and peered at May grinding on him. There was no penetration but it still felt fantastic and did the job of getting back to full length. Ash was once again blown away by how incredible May looked, it was an odd mix of an innocent and yet naughty vibe she gave off as she was still young and inexperienced and yet loving every moment.

May wanted to continue grinding and making Ash moan but her patience was not as long as his and to her surprise and delight Ash was fully hard again. She grabbed his now rock hard cock and stroked it while she prepared to go for round two.

"It's alright Ash I'll help you through your first time." May played on the fact Ash had never gone twice in one night.

'First Time!' Ash screamed in his head. "You've asked for it now."

Ash flipped May over getting an excited squeal from the girl. May laid down on the bed and Ash grabbed the back of her knees pressing them to either side of her body, she wasn't able to stretch to her shoulders but it was more than enough. Ash then grinned at her and May knew she had pushed his buttons.

"Speaking of first times, by your reactions I could have sworn it was yours." Ash said with a smirk.

"Well don't flatter your-Arrr!" May was cut off as Ash pounded into her forcing her to take every inch of him all at once.

Ash didn't give her any time to recover as he repeatedly slammed against her inner walls making her body heave and jolt. There was no time for pacing Ash went straight for hard and fast, making his last round look tame by comparison. May wasn't prepared for this, she thought she was in control but Ash had flipped her over and was relentlessly pounded her and forcing her legs back giving him inhibited access to her. Even her attempts to move in time with him where pointless, his thrusts were so wild and forceful she couldn't even process a logical thought let alone movement. This wasn't a tender slow courtship, this was the definition of being fucked senseless and she loved every second of it.

Ash felt like the luckiest man in the world right now. He was with one of the best looking, most talented and beautiful girl in the world, and he was making cry out in pure uncut joy. That sight alone would have been enough to set him off but the unrivalled feeling of May's tight walls clasping down on him was something that made the rest of the world seem none existent.

The cries of ecstasy from both involved were the only things drowning out the loud slaps of flesh every time their lower bodies would clash together. It was May's screams that were the most prominent as her G spot was being hammered relentlessly she couldn't help but vocalise the thrill of this dominating sex, as Ash threw his entire body into his thrusts.

It was more primal instinct driving Ash now though he had a shred of forethought left to try one last position. He manoeuvred his hands to the outside of her knees and then positioned them behind May's back so his elbows held her knees. He now had a good hold on her and as she looked at him through half closed eyes Ash used his waning strength and lifted May off the bed.

May barely saw it happen but suddenly she was in the air with her feet around Ash's shoulders, her knees behind his elbows and her groin just above his own and he hadn't stopped banging her. She wrapped her fingers around the back of his neck supporting herself before Ash started moving May's body forward and back with his thrusts this time putting her entire body weight into it. May had never even imagined having sex like this and never dreamed that it could feel this good. Her mind went blank with bliss, scratch what she thought before, this was being fucked senseless. There were no words to describe it, as if she was drunk on pleasure.

Ash had raised the bar, shattered it and raised it again and this final act was about to bring on a final climax. Ash was close and from the whimpering cries May was releasing he could tell she was as well. In the last few seconds Ash's speed became lightning fast giving it everything he had for the both of them. It was all too much for May in the final moments she threw her head back and let out a crazed scream as pure rapture took over, her whole body trembled as Ash hilted himself and roared at the ceiling. As May clamped down on him again he erupted within her as her own fluids rushed out. The pure feeling of climax making their eyes roll to the back of their heads in absolute joy.

Ash stood there with May in his arms completely still, the only sound in the room was their deep breaths of exhaustion. That was it, he had no strength left. Ash placed May down on the bed, unravelled his arms and collapsed to her side. He laid there in complete contentment unable to even lift his arm so he could stroke her side. May looked into his eyes slowly coming back down to earth, she wanted to say so much about how she felt but didn't believe words would cut it.

In the end she leant over and kissed him on the lips, Ash tried to lift himself up though May didn't want him to push himself and pulled away. She smiled a loving smile at him as she laid her head down enjoying the peaceful silence and simply gazing into Ash's eyes.

"That was…that was…wow." Ash stuttered making May giggle.

"It really was wasn't it?" May said before pulling the covers over them.

Ash was still taking in deep breaths and his eyes were beginning to flutter, May could easily see that he was now trying to fight off sleep but if anyone deserved a rest it was Ash.

"It's alright go to sleep." May told him as she caressed his cheek.

"What about you?" Ash asked.

"Don't worry I'll be snoozing real soon." She assured him.

With that Ash eased into his pillow and in no time at all had drifted off to sleep. May watched him as he slumbered, to her he looked so peaceful and calm. A far cry from the usual hyper active Ash she was used to. She enjoyed seeing him this way and it wasn't long before she herself felt her tiredness begin to take over.

For the first time in what felt like years May was happy, through all the trials she and Ash had gone through, she was truly happy.

**Oh man that took a long time to write! That was my first posted lemon, I've got some others written down but I felt that this story was more important and I personally believe that it will add to the story. Do you agree? Leave a comment but please try to be 'constructive' in your responses. Catch you next week for 'the morning after.' **


	14. Revealed

Chapter 14: Revealed

May woke up like she had been hit by a thunder bolt. She knew that last night wasn't a dream but a part of her wished it was. She lifted the covers laying on top of her, yes, she was completely naked. She slowly looked over her shoulder, yes, Ash was resting next to her still asleep, confirming that everything that happened last night was not some lust filled illusion.

May placed her head back on her pillow and gripped the bed sheet, she had really done it. She and Ash had slept together, no she couldn't try and censor it to herself, she had had sex with Ash Ketchum. The boy she had travelling with eight years ago, had barely seen for the last six and who had randomly appeared after her first mission with Team Magma was sleeping right next to her after they had banged the night before.

What really had her mind reeling was how she didn't question it last night at all, as soon as she kissed him it felt so right that she didn't even think about anything else as if he had put a trance over her, and she wasn't going to deny that what she felt was good. Not just good it was fantastic. No one had ever made her feel so alive as Ash had done last night, so blissful yet at the same time so at peace. Of course that was all over now, as if the sun rise had cleared her head. Except it hadn't, she couldn't wipe away what had happened, their displays were littered all over the floor in the form of their clothes.

Not wanting to lay there and reflect all morning May decided the best thing to do was get some fresh air so she could figure out what to do. May carefully pulled the covers off of herself so she didn't wake Ash, fortunately he was a heavy sleeper and didn't even stir as she left the bed. May put on her bra and panties as well as her bandana, noting that her groin hurt a bit. Groaning at the fact that Ash had done a number on her, but then she saw the Terracotta ribbon on the desk by the door. May didn't bother to pick up any other clothes, something drew her to the ribbon, when she picked it up she knew what it was.

'This ribbon was as symbol of our friendship when we left each other, but now it's more than that.' May thought to herself. 'It's now a symbol of when he first kissed, of when we first…" May paused as if the act was forbidden. 'The first time we had sex.'

'What happens now, I can't form a life with him and have all these secrets at the same time. Dammit what am I going to do?" May asked herself as she gazed back at Ash. There was one positive and that was that New Magma had no idea that any of this had occurred.

As if on cue May's phone began to ring. Jumping in near shock May grabbed it and nearly jumped again when she saw it had no ID. Ash was still asleep but May couldn't take the call with him in the room he'd surely wake up. May moved to the door that connected her room to Ash's, fortunately it was still open and while making double sure Ash wasn't awake entered and closed the door behind her.

May turned around and instantly saw Pikachu a metre in front of her staring wide eyed at her mostly naked body. Momentarily stunned May realised the electric type must have either been looking for Ash or waiting for him to return, obviously he wasn't expecting to see May come through the door in the state she was in.

"Pikachu I have to take this call but its private so can you please go into the other room?" May asked quietly.

Pikachu continued to stare at her blankly, the only response he seemed he gave was when he tilted his head slightly. The phone was still ringing and May was getting more anxious.

"Pikachu please I really need to take this call." May insisted as she opened up the door behind her.

Pikachu looked at the opening, then back to May briefly before granting her request and ran into the other room before May closed it.

When the door closed Ash stirred in the bed, as he woke he turned over expecting to see May but instead saw Pikachu staring at him with both arms crossed. Ash burst backwards in surprise hitting the back of his head on the wall. Now completely awake Ash rubbed his head while Pikachu continued to stare at him.

"What are you so uptight about?" Ash asked wondering where May had gone.

Pikachu unfolded his arms pointed back towards the room he was in, he then walked up to the wall and banged his fist against it, Pikachu then crossed his arms and raised one eyebrow. Ash had completely forgotten Pikachu was right next door last night, factor in his sensitive hearing and his clearly irritated expression Ash got why he was so cross. There was also the fact that Ash had denied having feelings for May plenty of times before.

"Ok, ok yes that happened I'm sorry you had to hear all that." Ash apologised raising both hands in the air.

Pikachu grinned slyly, he then ran up taking advantage of Ash's hands being in the air and kicked him square in the groin. Ash's eyed nearly burst out of his head he had not expected that, a thunderbolt maybe but not a kick in the crown jewels.

"Arrrrr! Pikachu why!" Ash wailed as he rolled on the bed.

Pikachu just smiled, feeling that his actions both spoke louder and were more appropriate then zapping his trainer with lightning.

While the commotion was happening with Ash May was finally able to answer her phone.

"Agent Maple reporting." She spoke into the phone.

"Agent this is Captain Gregson this call is to be a video call so switch to your projector." Gregson's voice instructed.

May couldn't take the call while in her underwear and none of her clothes were in Ash's room. Looking around May saw one of Ash's jackets, seeing as she could just show from the waist up May grabbed the jacket zipped it up and was happy to find it covered down half her thigh. She then positioned the phone so that the image on Gregson's side would appear on the wall, as she turned the camera on her top half appeared in the corner and Gregson appeared on the main screen. Behind him however was Fane sitting behind his desk, May guessed that it was his office as she had never seen it before and couldn't help but feel nervous.

"Miss Maple I've read your latest report, I do hope your injuries are healing up?" Fane asked rather caringly.

"I am back one hundred percent sir." May responded. Something didn't feel right, Fane wouldn't be here just to give her his best wishes.

"Very good however that is where the pleasantries end I'm afraid." Fane's expression took on a more serious tone. "The captain here has brought to my attention a very, concerning report."

May froze, had she done something wrong, going through all the events since she last spoke to either Gregson or Fane she couldn't think of anything.

"Thank you sir, originally it came from some footage of the agent and Ash Ketchum who you know Maple was charged to watch over." Gregson spoke as he pulled out a remote and turned on a large computer screen so all of them could see.

"The footage was of the two of them 'playing' in a lake." Gregson clicked his remote showing multiple overhead shots of May and Ash when they had stopped at Lake May, making the coordinator breathe slightly heavier.

"I didn't think too much of it at the time until I received video footage from one of our drones that caught our agent and her 'assignment' engaging in some, interesting activities." Gregson drew out his sentence.

May's heart nearly stopped, surely they couldn't have seen that, how could they have possibly gotten into her room?

May's question was answered when Gregson clicked his remote again which played a recording. May recognised the device taking the footage, it was the same model that she used to hack the cameras at the Devon Corp, but this one was crawling along the hall outside her room and then manoeuvred under the door. May saw herself and Ash on the screen, it was when he was taking off her bandages. Gregson fast forwarded the tape as the drone positioned itself in the corner of the rooms ceiling so it had a perfect view of May's room and it occupants.

May watched as Gregson played the part where she had gotten her half of the Terracotta ribbon and was standing in the doorway with Ash. 'This can't be happening.' She told herself, but it was and it was being played back to her before her very own eyes and not only hers but Gregson's and Fane's as well.

The moment she saw herself kiss Ash and push him against the door May lost something, she wasn't sure if it was her privacy, her pride or her hope but it was gone and the tape still kept playing. Gregson hit fast forward again, playing it when Ash and May were on the bed taking each other's clothes off.

"It gets worse sir." Gregson uttered never taking his eyes off the screen, fast forwarding to the point where Ash was eating her out, her naked body fully in view.

May wanted to turn away or somehow grab the remote and stop the tape but she was powerless to do so. 'Why are you doing this to me, please stop.' May internally begged, Gregson had what he needed why was he still showing more and more of it? He skipped to the part were Ash was on top of her, what made it even worse was the audio, May felt her whole body tense at the sounds of her own screams and shouts. This was meant to be a private beautiful moment between herself and Ash and now it was tainted, used against her in the sickest of ways. May felt the very energy inside her being sapped away as if Gregson had taken the one good thing that had happened to her and crushed it in front of her eyes.

When the footage came to when May was on top of Ash Fane spoke up. "Thank you Captain, I've seen quite enough." The older man said as he turned back to May.

"Well agent as you can imagine I'm quite curious about all of this, you claim to have just been friends with Mrs Ketchum however from what I've seen you two are much more than that. So do you have anything to add?" Fane asked placing one fists under his chin.

May had never been so humiliated in all her life, her time with Ash put up on screen like some cheaply made porn. It took a lot of strength but May pushed aside her emotions and went with the only angle she had.

"Sir this was all an act." May answered confidently.

"An act? Do explain." Fane instructed.

"I was ordered to watch over Ash Ketchum, he no longer wanted to travel with me so I seduced him so he would stay with me willingly, until the time in which that specific order is revoked." May explained, it was a blatant lie but May had delivered it well she didn't think Gregson would believe it but the only person she needed to believe it was Fane.

"I see." Fane uttered still watching May reaction. "And this ploy of yours worked?"

"Confirmed sir." May responded, she then waited to see if it worked.

"Well that's quite something wouldn't you say Captain?" Fane looked over at Gregson.

"Sir?" Gregson responded rather unsure of his leader's reaction.

"I've never known anyone to go that far for a mission especially one that isn't even directly related to our cause, people have put their bodies on the line but not quite what Maple has done." Fane explained.

May couldn't believe he bought it, she thought for sure she was done for but her quick thinking had gotten her out of it. The look on both Gregson's and her own face showed they were both a little shocked.

"Now that that's cleared up let's inform our agent of the new updates." Fane moved on. "Your next target has been taken care of as our plans have been moved forward in light of the discovery of Groudon's location. This is all on a need to know basis so for now continue to travel with Ketchum." Fane revealed.

May had so many questions, when was it all taking place, where was the Groudon found, and what was she meant to do with Ash. But as Fane said it was on a need to know basis and she doubted New Magma cared what she did with Ash so she was forced to simply be happy with the information she got.

"Acknowledged sir I'll await new orders." May said as she stood up straighter.

"Keep up the good work Miss Maple." Fane addressed May before signalling to Gregson. The Captain walked up to the camera to turn it off as Fane turned around on his chair.

"I'll be looking forward to any more of those 'ploys' of yours agent." Gregson smiled wickedly before cutting the connection.

As soon as the video stopped May fell to her knees fighting back the tears that threatened to pour out of her eyes. She was off the hook but everything was still so wrong, that footage of her wasn't going to simply disappear. All it would take was one more slip up by her and someone would post in on the net and ruin her life outside of Team Magma, they had dirt on her now and she knew them well enough that they would use it.

As she sobbed May realised she still had her half of the Terracotta ribbon in her hand, as she looked down on it she couldn't help but feel that last night was a mistake. Through all the lust, passion and pleasure, was it worth it?

"Ash…" May whimpered holding the ribbon close to her chest. "What am I going to do?"

Back at New Magma headquarters Gregson was not too pleased with how his report had gone, he could tell that May's actions last night were not a lie, he could tell from the look on her face both on the tape and from her reaction upon seeing it.

"Sir I am still concerned about Agent Maple's attachment to her target." Gregson tried his luck at swaying Fane's mind.

"That's quite enough Gregson." Fane spoke as he turned around in his chair.

"May Maple has done nothing but good for this organisation. She donated to our cause before it took off then trained for months to become our best field agent. It's about time you gave her a little respect." Fane spoke sternly.

"Also your overall conduct towards women is downright unacceptable, so let me make this clear, this, shit, stops, here." Fane made it very clear to his second in command how he felt.

"Yes sir, it won't happen again." Gregson said as he came to attention and stood up straight, though he had concerns with May Gregson never went against his superior.

"Right, now that that's out of the way is your team ready to move on time?" Fane moved on.

"Yes sir my men are prepped and we will be ready at location in a few hours." Gregson reported.

"Excellent work Captain, is there anything else you'd like to discuss?" Fane asked.

"Well sir I'm just concerned that the equipment might not be ready, it hasn't even been properly tested yet." Gregson admitted.

"That is of little concern we have been given a great opportunity Captain let's not waste it." Fane spoke as he stood up.

"Of course sir." Gregson acknowledged.

"Just to think, by tomorrow we could have changed the face of Hoenn, forever." Fane uttered as the final steps in New Magma's master plan began.

**Everything's really starting to happen now isn't it? On a side note I saw 'Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction' in the cinemas on the weekend, which as an Australian I never thought I'd be able to. As I said this is the start of the second Act of the story so stay tuned things can only get more exciting from here. **


	15. Rediscovery

Chapter 15: Rediscovery

May wiped away the single tear from her face and took a deep breath, she was still a professional agent and she had to act it.

"Ok enough crying, it's time to get on with the job." May told herself as she stood up and clicked her phone shut. She didn't know if Ash was still asleep but she did when a knock came at the door.

"May are you alright in there?" Ash's voice came from the other room.

"Yes I'm fine, you can come in if you like." May responded. Ash opened the door now wearing his clothes, he then entered with Pikachu who jumped up onto the bed.

"So what was your phone call about?" Ash asked.

May quickly thought up an excuse. "That was my boss, um all my modelling shots have been delayed so were free from now on." May replied with a smile.

"Really? Is it because of your injuries?" Ash asked.

"No it's not about any of that they've just had some problems on their end is all." May responded.

"If you say so." Ash shrugged his shoulders.

"So I'm leaving it up to you, where do you want to go next." May asked her voice sounding more uplifted.

"I don't know I'll have to think about it." Ash said as he rested his chin in his hand thinking.

"Well were in no rush so you can take your time." May lightly clapped her hands together.

"Alright then I'll have a look on the map." Ash pointed to his desk. "One thing May why are you in my jacket?"

"Oh I just got a bit cold while I was on the phone sorry." May apologised as she pulled the fabric down her leg feeling slightly exposed.

"It's alright, you look really cute in it." Ash complemented the brunette.

"Thank you Ash." May blushed slightly her worries about New Magma seeming to have disappeared when Ash entered the room. "I'll go have a shower if that's alright."

"Don't let me stop you." Ash offered her the door to her room.

May smiled warmly and walked to the door realising that they hadn't talked about everything that had happened last night, what it meant for them, how it affected them and what was going to happen from now on.

"May wait up." Ash spoke making her turn in the doorway. "Mind if I have my jacket?"

"Right sorry." May chuckled lightly.

She still had some reservations of Ash seeing her just in her underwear. But he had seen her naked all last night so really it wasn't that big a deal. As she handed the jacket over Ash moved one hand up to the side of her face and carefully moved a few loose strands of hair back under her bandana. May looked away nervously but when Ash's hand moved to the back of her head she locked eyes with him again. She could tell what he wanted and as he moved his head closer to her own she didn't stop him, she merely closed her eyes and waited.

Ash pulled May into a delicate kiss, not the intense ones that they had become accustom to from last night. It was a soft slow embrace one where their lips barely touched but it had May's heart beating faster. Ash pressed forward slightly keeping the slow tempo but adding slightly more passion. May slowly moved her hand up to grab Ash's shoulder when he pulled away, his brown eyes staring into her blue ones and her hand suspended in the air waiting for his next move.

"I'll see you soon." Ash smiled before pulling his hand away and walking back to his room.

May stood there almost in a daze, as if she had lost something with Ash's departure. He made her feel warm, needed, complete even. Was she falling in love with him? No, she had thought she found love in someone else, and that turned out to be false.

May gathered up a change of clothes and got in the shower, the only thing breaking her thoughts on Ash's kiss was the way she acted last night. She had behaved so desperately during her entire exploit with Ash last night. She had never been so wild and needy before as if she was deprived of something, whether it be sex or food or anything. Her actions puzzled her, this went beyond having natural urges there was another factor at play here.

Upon finishing her shower May got dressed and pulled a box out of the bin that had contained the healing drug she used yesterday, she had a feeling it held the answers. She slowly read the back until she found the small print on the bottom detailing side effects.

'Side effects may include drowsiness, fatigue, hunger, vomiting, temporary blindness and in rare cases increased sex drive.'

"Dammit." May hissed. "Guess I'm one of those rare cases."

"But what does this mean? It explains why I came onto him but did it effect how I felt?" May's thoughts began to tumble in her head.

She remembered what she felt, the rush, the lust, the heat between the two of them but was it brought on by the drug's effects? It was this question that had her more mixed up than ever.

"Alright enough, get your head straight May." The brunette told herself. "You've been ordered to stick with Ash and wait so just do that, just wait and try to enjoy yourself. This will be the time to make up for being so rude to him yesterday, I can start on that now." May concluded. She had finally tired of hiding from Ash, she wouldn't tell him about New Magma of coarse but now she could relax so to speak and stop having to push him away. At that moment Ash himself appeared from his room.

"Hey May you all right?" Ash referred to May's slouched position.

May quickly hid the box she was reading. "Yeah I'm great, how are you?" She responded.

"I'm good and I know a place we can head to next." Ash revealed.

"Well don't keep me in suspense, where is it?" May asked cheerfully.

"No, no, it's a surprise." Ash grinned.

"Another surprise? Aren't you full of well, surprises?" May tilted her head comically.

"I have my moments." Ash joked. "But if we get ready now we can be there before midday." Ash told her excitedly.

"Are you always in a rush Ash?" May joked.

"Most of the time, so do you want to get moving now?" Ash asked.

"You bet I'll be packed up right away." May declared as she got to her feet.

"Alright then, Pikachu lets go get a quick breakfast." Ash addressed his starter who was still in the other room.

An enthusiastic 'Pika' sounded before Ash exited his room with Pikachu jumping on his shoulder before closing the door leaving May to her own devices.

"Yeah a new destination would be good, I can forget about Magma for a bit and enjoy my time with Ash, just like I used to." May concluded as she packed up.

Ash got down to the centre's eating area and ordered a small snack for Pikachu and two on the go meals for May and himself. Chansey took the orders and while he waited Nurse Joy appeared.

"Good morning Ash, I trust May is feeling better." Nurse Joy asked.

"Yep she's back to one hundred percent thanks to you." Ash thanked her.

"No problem at all, I do hope you two slept well last night." The nurse enquired.

"Yeah like a rock." Ash replied.

"Well everything did seem to quiet down after seven-thirty." Joy said with a knowing expression.

'Oh man she didn't hear us did she?' Ash thought, trying desperately not to look guilty.

"Um anyway we'll be off soon so thanks for everything." Ash thanked her again.

"Your most welcome, be sure to keep the noise down where ever you go." Nurse Joy smiled and then walked off without another word.

Ash stood there in a daze, were they that loud? Was there even a rule about doing that sort of thing in the Pokémon centre? He knew he wasn't but it felt like he was in huge trouble. Pikachu nudged his leg and Ash saw he had the same knowing look on his face from this morning.

"Will you stop that." Ash scolded the electric type who went right back to eating.

May came jogging up to Ash having packed her bag with an enthusiastic look about her. The way she smiled as she walked towards Ash, the stride in her step. Ash could tell that she was a lot happier then she had been in the time they had met up.

"You all ready?" Ash asked as he handed May a small wrap.

"You know I am, come on lets go." May cheered as she turned around and jogged to the door.

"Hey wait up." Ash called after her. He picked up Pikachu who still had a mouth full of food and ran after the girl who was suddenly so full of life.

As they began their walk Ash could see a difference in May, to put it simply she seemed happier. The stride in her step was more fluent, she sounded more interested and cheerful when she spoke and she smiled. Not just occasionally when Ash would make a light joke it was almost constant, to Ash May was acting like she used to. A vibrate outgoing young girl. They talked for most of the time they walked still finding things to catch up on while Pikachu jumped between their shoulders occasionally having his own fun.

May was enjoying the moment so much that she completely forgot about the night before and the fact she had to discuss it with Ash. She didn't know where to start and there was the fact that Ash hadn't said anything about it, perhaps he was waiting for the right time, there was no way he could have forgotten after all.

"Um Ash." May started.

"Yeah what's up?" Ash asked.

"Well it's kind of complicated but I need to talk you about-" May was cut off as a Breloom burst backwards out of the bushes in front of them.

The dual Grass-Fighting type was quickly followed by a Mightyena who leapt as it baring its claws. The Breloom dropped onto its back and as the Mightyena fell towards it the Breloom kicked his legs upwards flipping the Mightyena over the top of him. However more Mightyena came out of the bushes and as the first one hit the ground the rest of them surrounded the Breloom. As it got up the Breloom found himself surrounded by a total of six attackers, and though he had the advantage with his typing the mushroom Pokémon was outmatched.

"Hey get away from him!" May shouted.

The Mightyena looked at May and Ash but turned their attention back to the Breloom they had surrounded, two humans were not worth taking their eyes off the prize. May stepped forward to intervene grabbing a Pokeball when Ash's arm blocked her path.

"It's alright May I've got this." Ash assured her as he presented his own Pokeball.

"Sceptile I choose you!" Ash threw the Pokeball into the air which sent a beam of white light right beside the Breloom's position.

Both the Mightyena and the Breloom backed up as Sceptile appeared out of thin air, raising a twig to his mouth as he casually scanned the area around him. Having taken in the six threats around him Sceptile turned to the Breloom behind him and gave a quick nod of assurance. One Mightyena barked giving the order to attack and all six simultaneously leapt at Sceptile. May's eyes widened wondering how Sceptile could contend with all those Mightyena going for him at the same time, but as she looked at Ash all she saw was a knowing grin on his face.

"Alright Sceptile now." Ash ordered.

Sceptile placed one hand on the ground lifted up into a handstand and they rotated his body, using his tail and legs Sceptile whipped away each enclosing Mightyena with lightning fast movements sending each one flying back to either side of the path knocking them out. It happened in an instant May didn't even see two of the Mightyena get hit until they were sent sailing through the air, when they were dealt with Sceptile ceased his spinning and carefully placed his legs back on the ground. Looking back at the shocked Breloom Sceptile signalled that it was safe for him to move. The Breloom looked at the Mightyena around him, nodded and ran back into the forest, thankful it had been saved if not a little overwhelmed.

'Sceptile didn't even use one of his moves, he just used his physical strength for all of those Mightyen, incredible.' May though to herself.

"Excellent work Sceptile, return." Ash thanked his grass type before he recalled him.

"Ash that was amazing, you didn't call out a move or anything, Sceptile's become really powerful." May exclaimed.

"Powerful, precise, incredible, those are some of the words that come to mind when I think of Sceptile." Ash said more to himself as he started walking up the path again.

May quickly looked over the Mightyena as they walked past, they were unconscious but didn't have any serious injuries, they would probably think twice before bullying another Pokémon again though.

"I knew your Pokémon had come a long way since you became a part of the Elite Four but Sceptile seems to have come leaps and bounds." May continued.

"You bet, Sceptile is so strong he can go toe to toe with Charizard even with the type disadvantage." Ash told May.

For the first time May wasn't thinking of how to overcome Ash's Pokémon, her fear had turned to respect for both his Pokémon and his skills as a trainer. In a way it was like when they first travelled with each other.

"Hey do you smell that?" Ash asked.

"Smell what?" May responded.

"Salt water, I knew that we were close." Ash proclaimed as he suddenly began to run forward.

"Whoa Ash wait for me." May called out forced to run after him.

Ash continued to jog up the path making sure May was right behind him, he could see the foliage was starting to change to the usual types of plants that adapted to living near to ocean. That along with the smell of the beach made him certain that his destination was near. Sure enough the tree line soon broke along the path opening into a lookout high above the ocean. A wooden fence laid at the edge of the cliff that dropped over twenty metres into the sea below.

As May caught up to Ash she marvelled at the view. The path kept going along the edge of the cliff which to her right diverted inland creating a gap about eight hundred metres in and three hundred across, caused from the natural erosion of the waves. All around her May could see nothing but life, ongoing expanses of greenery, Zigzagoon running amongst the trees and various flying Pokémon taking to the air. She even saw the silhouettes of some Pokémon in the water, this place was incredibly beautiful, no wonder Ash had chosen it.

Ash leant on the fence overlooking the ocean and May followed suit, both smiling happily at each other, no words necessary each of them enjoying the view. May didn't know how long they stood there for but she enjoyed the serenity that the location seemed to give off. May knew that she would have to talk to Ash about what happened last night however, and though she hated to ruin the moment she couldn't delay it any longer.

"Ash we need to talk, about last night." May spoke up.

"Yeah, I guess we should." Ash sighed as he turned to face the brunette.

May didn't really know where to begin, how it started, how it ended, or what it meant for them from here. It was that last question that scared her.

"The way I acted last night it wasn't-I mean that wasn't how I- I don't know I've never done that before." May stuttered.

"You mean have sex with someone out of the blue?" Ash asked.

"Yes-I mean no I meant the way I acted I don't know what came over me." May tried to get things straight.

"Yeah that goes for me too, I went a little over board last night." Ash spoke as he looked at the ground.

"No it's alright Ash after all you did ask me if it was what I wanted remember." May remained him.

"But you're having second thoughts about it now aren't you?" Ash asked.

"I-I don't know, it's just yesterday we were just friends and now, I don't know what we are." May stated as she looked away.

"Well, what do you want us to be?" Ash asked not knowing what he wanted either.

"A part of me just wants us to stay friends like we used to be but we can't just ignore what happened. The other part of me wants something else but." May stopped herself.

"There are things about me that make that impossible, things that I can't control." May looked back and saw Ash was standing right in front of her. He leant forward placing both hands on the railing behind her, his face coming tantalizingly close to her own.

"What things?" Ash asked.

May shook her head slowly, she wanted to tell him but couldn't bare the thought of putting him in danger. "I can't-" She stuttered before Ash raised one hand to her cheek the look in his eyes, for whatever reason they seemed to give her a glimpse of hope.

"Whatever it is I can handle it, because I know last night wasn't a mistake. What I felt was real and I have a feeling that you felt it as well." With that Ash moved his head forward and kissed her.

Their lips connected and May felt as if her troubles had been washed away. It was a heart-warming embrace that she hadn't experienced with Ash and it made seemingly impossible options suddenly attainable.

She no longer though about how to push Ash aside, she thought of how to push New Magma aside. The thought of being together with Ash and going back to the way she was seemed worth throwing away her ties to New Magma. Just running away and forgetting about Fane, Gregson and Groudon when she was with Ash she felt needed, appreciated, like she could do anything. Something she hadn't felt for years, perhaps since she had left him all those years ago. Ash pulled away from the kiss leaving the girl in a half daze.

"You're right we are more than friends now and we can't ignore what happened, so let's just continue and we'll find out what we are along the way." Ash told her cementing the fact that he wasn't running from this.

May was about to respond when a loud thud echoed from across the gap between them and other side of the cliff. May recognised that sound, at the end of her training she was shown one of the pieces of equipment New Magma said they would use for controlling Groudon, when it powered up it made that exact sound. Her mind started to race, was this the location that Groudon had been discovered? Of all the places in Hoenn why did it have to be here?

"What in the world was that?" Ash asked as he looked over in the sounds direction.

May couldn't see any personnel but what she could make out was the two conductors peeking out from behind a ridge. May looked at Ash, she knew that if he found out what was going on he would do everything in his power to stop them. Right now she had to get him away from the area, but she didn't know how far was far enough if Groudon was going to come bursting out of the ground.

"I don't know, I think there is a beach not far to the left did you want to go see it?" May asked.

"Hold on a second May aren't you curious about what that noise was?" Ash enquired.

"I'm sure it's nothing, come on I'd really like to see that beach." May spoke as she walked towards the path.

"I know it's just, there was something off about that noise." Ash still faced the opposite cliff.

It was then that a bright blue glow emanated from the opposite side, it remained there for a few seconds and then faded as quickly as it had come. Everything seemed to go silent no calls from the Wingull, no rustling of leaves. The blue light seeming to have quelled the whole area. Ash and May waited silently expecting something to happen. Ash turned to May with a puzzled look on his face, before he could talk the ground rumbled. Both positioned their feet to compensate but the ground only continued to shake even more, May fell to one knee and knew that this sudden tremor could only mean one thing.

"This can't be happening." May told herself but it was, beneath her feet one of the most powerful forces of nature was rising from the earth.

**Hopefully I'll release another chapter next week but I'm finalising the third chapter of 'Becoming a Pokémon Master' so if you don't get one next week expect that chapter to be out. Also the fact that as of now Pokémon ORAS is about to be released in a few hours might take away from my writing time. Sapphire was my first Pokémon game so I hope you all understand my hype. Until then hope your all enjoying this and please leave a comment. **


	16. Rise

Chapter 16: Rise

Ash and May could never have known that in the hours before they arrived at the sea side New Magma had been setting up operations not far from where they would end up. They arrived on the ridge having pin pointed Groudon's location. All their equipment and staff were moved including the small scientist team appointed for this specific mission, a security team equipped with riot gear and stun batons, and finally Fane and Captain Gregson who would oversee everything. They drove by truck and had set up all the equipment they needed and at the time of Ash and May's arrival they were nearly ready.

"So professor Lund, tell me again how you came across this technology that can apparently control even legendary Pokémon." Gregson asked the head of the science section.

"Well Captain have you heard of a man named Professor Colress?" Lund asked.

"Yes he was a scientist that was arrested for his involvement him Team Plasma, a criminal organisation in Unova." Gregson replied.

"Correct you see I was one of his students before he joined Plasma, he designed a machine that would control and bring out a Pokémon's inner power. Though I wasn't able to copy exactly what he had created I was able to recreate the controlling section of his machine, it makes any Pokémon completely controllable." Lund explained.

"However it does require different calculations for different Pokémon types but that won't be a problem as we are only going for Groudon." Lund concluded.

"Exactly professor, you just make sure that you hit Groudon with that beam when I summon it." Fane spoke as he made his way to the command chair.

"Yes sir, by the way how do you plan on awakening him?" Lund asked.

"Well I've kept that secret for a long time in case anything went wrong but now I can reveal exactly how I will do just that." Fane reached into his bag and pulled out a glass case. Inside the case was a bright blue orb.

"Sir is that the blue orb said to be able to command Groudon." Lund asked in shock.

"Not quite, after the events of eight years ago the red and blue orbs were hidden, even with all of our intel gathering we couldn't locate them. However the ancient civilisations that created those orbs made backups in case something where to happen to the originals. In the ancient writings this is known as the lesser blue orb." Fane explained.

"But sir you know that the people who held onto those things were consumed by its power." Lund explained.

"Yes we are aware of that, which is why I will only use it to call Groudon up from the earth and once he has appeared you will take over." Fane revealed.

"An excellent plan sir." Gregson acknowledged. "Now are you ready Lund?"

"Yes all preparations are complete, all we need is the go ahead." Lund nodded.

Fane took one final look at his men and grinned confidently, all preparations had been met and on his orders they would begin reshaping the region and in enough time, the world.

"Sync the control devices activation with the activation of our sleeper viruses, that way we can raise Groudon and knock out any law enforcement at the same time." Fane ordered.

"Roger that sir, synced and ready." Lund replied.

"Alright then, activate the device." Fane spoke lowly.

Lund grabbed the activation leather and pulled it down bringing the large machine to life. As it powered up it groaned lightly, but everyone knew what would happen and so covered their ears in anticipation. A loud bang boomed from the machine as it reached full power making a group of Wingul take to the air in surprise.

"Never get used to that." Lund said as he shook his head.

Fane didn't waste any more time, he opened the glass case and grasped the blue orb in his hand. Pulling the orb out Fane could sense the energy almost seep into his hand and up his arm, he ignored the temptation of letting the power seep further into his body and instead held it above his head and forced his will over that of Groudon's.

"Groudon hear me, rise from your slumber so that you may reshape this land in my image." Fane uttered with strength and conviction.

The blue orb began to glow, faintly at first but it slowly built in brightness until a blinding flash of light blasted out of it lighting up the whole area around them and leaving the shoreline in an eerie silence.

"Well what happens now?" Lund asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"Just wait, soon you'll see." Fane said knowingly.

Soon after he had spoken the earth began to shake. The shaking increased and the sensors of Lund's machines began to come to life trying to pinpoint the epicentre of the tremors, but was unable to as the source of the quakes was slowly rising from deep below the earth.

The intensity of the shacking continued to increase and slabs of the cliff face began to break away when a sudden loud rumble and crash echoed from over the ridge that separated New Magma from the small inlet and to May and Ash. One of the men stationed at the top of the ridge saw the cause of the rumbling and called down to Fane.

"Sir Groudon has appeared, down this inlet." The grunt called out.

Fane placed the blue orb back in its glass case and secured it in a safe compartment beneath his chair.

"Lund be ready to fire that beam as soon as we are in sight of Groudon. Gregson reform the defensive line from the top of that ridge once we get up there." Fane instructed.

Getting nods from his right and left hand men New Magma began to move all their equipment to the top of the ridge eager to get look at the prize they had waited so long for.

Ash ran over to May who had fallen to her knees and wrapped his arms around her. She gripped his shirt praying that the series of events that had just unfolded had to be for any other reason other than Groudon breaking through to the surface. The tremor continued until a huge bang sounded. May peered up and saw a small landslide halfway down the inlet and then the shacking stopped.

Ash looked around the area surveying for any damage, he then looked down at May checking that she was alright but she seemed quite shaken up.

"May you still with me?" Ash asked.

May nodded slowly and steadily rose to her feet, she walked to the railing overlooking where the landslide had occurred. A large cluster of earth and boulders were clumped together halfway down the right side of the inlet almost completely blocking off the water going back and forth to the ocean. It was then that she noticed the steam.

Huge amounts of steam were billowing out from under the boulders and filling the air. Ash stood beside May and followed her line of sight also noticing the strange amount of steam coming from the base of ravine. He then noticed something bright and orange seemly oozing from the side of the rocks. The closest thing he could compare it to was lava or magma but how could that be?

Suddenly something burst from beneath the rock pile sending boulders, dust and the steam in all directions. Fortunately Ash, May and Pikachu were unharmed by the flying debris and it was then that May saw the creature for the first time.

Rising out of the scattered debris appeared a massive red body with thick armour and white spikes running along its sides. The thick tail flicked up revealing the four blade like ends, then the giant Pokémon reared its head showing a mouth full of sharp teeth and piercing yellow eyes. The beast stood over ten metres tall and the sight of it brought back the vivid memories of when Ash and May first encountered it, despite being older and far more experienced they were still shocked to their cores.

The legendary Pokémon of Hoenn took a deep breath and let out an incredible ear piercing roar that by itself shock the land around it causing the trio watching it to cover their ears as the sound seemed to go right through them. Groudon looked around the area as if scanning for something or someone, it then pulled its feet out of the remaining rocks and started moving towards the ocean. As it did lava started to pour out of the hole it had made in the side of the gorge, hitting the water and melting anything in its path.

Ash pulled his hands away from his ears even as they were still ringing and watched Groudon begin to move, each step making a loud thump and compressing the rocks and earth beneath its huge weight. He then noticed the heat, as he looked up into the sky he noticed the clouds in the sky disappearing and the intensity of the sun increased. He had felt this under the effects of a Sunny Day move before but this was far more intense.

Ash didn't know why or how Groudon had appeared but he knew it had something to do with that blue light that appeared before. All Ash knew was that there was little chance Groudon would appear for no reason and if left to roam the damage caused could be catastrophic. Ash ran further down the walkway in Groudon's direction not sure if he could somehow communicate with it but hoping he could at least distract it.

"Groudon!" Ash shouted when he was directly on Groudon's left side.

May heard Ash's voice and snapped her head in his direction, she had been so overwhelmed by Groudon's appearance that she hadn't even noticed Ash had run off. Not only that but her worst fears had been realized, a normal person would have most likely run in the face of such power but Ash was getting closer and trying to stop it.

"Groudon stop!" Ash shouted even louder.

Groudon suddenly stopped walking and turned its head in Ash's direction, as soon as it saw Ash its eyes narrowed slightly almost as if it somehow recognised Ash from Monsu Island years ago. It was possible as Groudon had presumably been asleep for all that time but to recognise Ash especially after he had aged was quite astounding. Ash didn't take the time to appreciate this fact and tried to talk the giant Pokémon beneath him.

"Groudon you've got to stop this, your damaging this coast line!" Ash shouted even though he doubted an ancient Pokémon like Groudon would be able to understand human speech like other Pokemon could.

Despite his doubts Groudon tilted its head slightly at Ash's words, making him wonder if it had indeed understood him or was confused as to what this human was trying to say. A part of his plan had worked, he had gotten Groudon's attention and stopped it from moving forward. Hoping his luck would hold out Ash attempted to speak to Groudon again while we had its attention.

Before he could do this however a sudden blue beam came from the opposite side of the ravine and struck Groudon. The mighty creature reeled forward as a blue field covered its body. Roaring in a mix of shock and pain Groudon thrashed its head from side to side as the power of professor Lund's machine completely took over its body.

"Groudon what's wrong?" Ash shouted but couldn't hope to compete with Groudon's deafening cries.

The blue glow around Groudon's body faded and in its place Groudon's eyed glowed a deep red, brighter than its own armour. Ash looked over to where the beam had come from and saw the cause. On the opposite side of the cliff was a group of people in red outfits all clustered around what looked like a large mobile machine. It had multiple personnel seeming to be working and typing in commands into it surrounded by a group of armed guards and in the centre sat a man who had to be their leader, watching the whole event unfold.

"Is that, Team Magma? How is that possible we stopped them years ago?" Ash asked himself.

Another blue light shoot out from the strange machine and hit Groudon. The legendary moaned momentarily before turning towards the ocean and continuing back along its original path.

"Those people up there, they must be the ones who summoned Groudon somehow and now they are controlling it." Ash told Pikachu who responded angrily.

"Whatever is going on here we have to put a stop it. Pikachu are you ready?" Ash asked.

Pikachu nodded sternly when Ash heard May's voice calling him from behind. He turned around to see her running towards him, her face full of worry.

"Ash what are you thinking?" May asked emotionally.

"Listen May some group of people are controlling Groudon over there, I don't know what they're planning but it can't be good." Ash told her. "We've got to get over there and do something ok." With that Ash turned around and began to walk when May's hand grabbed his wrist stopping him. Ash turned around and saw that May had her head dipped and her hand seemed to tremble.

"Please I don't want you to leave me." May uttered her voice almost inaudible with the sound of Groudon's footsteps in the background.

"I have to May." Ash told her.

"But why, why do you have to do this." May asked her trembling only increasing.

Ash looked past May at the overcome Groudon, its will, its power, its freedom taken away from it. To him there was no question of what he had to do.

"Because May, it's not just the fact that as a member of the Elite Four and keeper of the peace, or the fact that manipulation of any Pokémon like this is a crime." Ash told May as he moved in and placed both hands on her shoulders.

"It's the fact that there is a Pokémon that needs my help and will always give everything I have to help others. That is my ideology, the way I live and the very reason I came to find you in the first place." Ash spoke sombrely.

"Listen I want you to get to safety, run as far as you can away from here and I will take care of everything." Ash instructed May who still stared blankly at the ground.

"Don't worry I'll fix this and come find you straight away." Ash whispered and then lightly kissed her on the head.

Ash could tell she was scared and he didn't want to have her worry about him but what he wanted more was for her to be safe.

Pikachu knew that this was an important moment for the young couple but sensing the growing danger in the air had to get Ash moving, he jumped onto the ground and called out his name getting his trainers attention. Ash turned to Pikachu before giving May one last hug and let her go, running down the path so they could confront this new group.

"Deep down, I knew that would be your answer." May spoke softly.

"I'm sorry but I have to live by my ideologies as well." May spoke as she peered up and watched Ash and Pikachu run down the path.

"I know you won't forgive me, but my loyalty must belong to New Magma."

Ash didn't hear the sound of the Pokeball opening but what he did hear was Pikachu's cry of surprise. He turned around and saw Pikachu surrounded by a purple light and being lifted up into the air.

"A Psychic attack, but who's using it?" Ash gasped.

His eyes darted around looking for the trainer or the Pokémon that was attacking them but was unable to locate anyone. Pikachu called out again and Ash saw him being pulled back along the path they had just come from. Then he saw May, standing there with an almost haunting gaze on her face. Beside her was her Mismagius floating in the air and its eyes aglow slowly pulling Pikachu towards them.

"May w-what are you doing?" Ash called out, completely dumfounded as to why all this was happening.

"I'm sorry Ash." May spoke with a mix of significance and regret in her voice that almost sounded like it was weighing her down.

"But this is and always has been, my mission."

**So that everyone knows I have made Groudon a lot larger than he is depicted in the anime or the games as he's only meant to be 3.5m high, so relatively speaking not as big as you might have first thought. I just think Groudon is so intimidating in appearance that he should be closer in size to the large dinosaurs he's based off, if not a bit larger. Also don't expect me to dive too deep into Primal Evolution, I'm going with the law given to me from the Advanced season in the anime not the games and most likely not with that new sub series about Mega Evolution from the X and Y series. Though I've got to admit those episodes are fantastic. Till next time everyone! **


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